The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a proposed intervention in a natural health products matter. By way of background, the Minister of Health decided the appellant contravened the Natural Health Product Regulations by selling a “natural health product”
without a product licence. On appeal, the appellant argues the Minister’s interpretation of the Regulations was unreasonable and the Canadian Health Food Association and others moved for leave to intervene. In dismissing the motion to intervene, the Court described the threshold as: “usefulness, genuine interest, and consistency with the interests of justice.” The Court found the proposed submissions on the meaning of the legislation “not useful” because: (i) the Court will not impose on the Minister its own interpretation of the legislation; and (ii) the Court’s role on judicial review is limited to assessing the reasonableness of the interpretation of the Regulations the Minister expressly or impliedly adopted. As such, the motion was denied.
Le-Vel Brands, LLC v. Canada (Attorney General), 2023 FCA 66