SCC refuses leave in Salway v APEGBC

On June 14, 2010, the SCC denied an engineer leave to appeal an appellate decision restoring a reprimand for unprofessional conduct (for his failing to respond to client correspondence in a timely way) in Salway v. Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, 2010 BCCA 94 [2010 SCCA No. 122]. The first review court found the panel erred in finding that conduct had risen to the level of unprofessional conduct, but the BCCA reversed, applying a reasonableness standard of review that required courts to give deference to a professional body’s interpretation of its own professional standards “so long as it is justified, transparent and intelligible” and thus within “the range of reasonable outcomes” (32).