Supreme Court of Canada to hear Windsor, Ambassador Bridge case

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear a case involving the City of Windsor and the Canadian Transit Corporation, which owns the Ambassador Bridge.

Thursday morning, the judges handed down their decision to hear the case that surrounds who holds jurisdiction over nearly 120 properties owned by the bridge company on Windsor's west end.

The city has tried to enforce a property standards bylaw to force the bridge company to repair several homes on Indian Road. The City of Windsor has banned the bridge company from demolishing the houses.

In a previous ruling the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal Court does have jurisdiction to decide whether the municipal bylaws apply to the bridge.

The City of Windsor went to the Supreme Court of Canada asking the court to consider an appeal of that decision.

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday said it will hear that appeal.

Wira Vendrasco, the deputy city solicitor, said the country's top court's decision to hear this appeal means that it is "obviously interested"in the question at the core of the case.

"It's really a question, it's a constitutional and a jurisdictional question about the powers of the federal court,"she told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.

Terry Kennedy, an advocate for the Sandwich Towne neighbourhood, said Thursday was a "great day"for Windsor and he feels the Supreme Court will decide in favour of the city.

"Bureaucrats do not have the right to alter or ignore laws in order that corporations may bypass or circumvent their public responsibilities,"he said in an interview on Thursday.