robsaw

Will be an interesting jurisdictional case but I think you'll find that absurdity is in the eye of the beholder and many complex cases have delved into areas of shared Provincial/Federal jurisdiction (and the dividing-line isn't necessarily all-or-none when it comes to various aspects of a business operations). One principle is "By virtue of the Federal precedence principle, in case of incompatibility, Federal law will have precedence over the provincial legislation but only to remedy such incompatibility." Not so clear-cut eh?

Another example test that is probably more appropriate was a case-study on potential airport privitization: "The test for determining the jurisdiction over an airport's activities is the "interjurisdictional immunity" test. The two-pronged test requires the federal party relying on the immunity doctrine to show that the provincial regulation impacts the core of the federal power over aeronautics and that it impairs the core of that power. The jurisprudence suggests that the content of the core of federal power involves decisions relating to the location, design and operation of aeronautics undertakings." It is easy how this case-study could be repurposed to fit the Canada Transportation Act, which governs airline operations.

So, the question is - are provincial expiry date regulations on flight-passes an impact on the core of the federal power over air transport?

Regardless, you won't likely get a court ruling that primary Federal jurisdiction excludes any and all provincial jurisdiction over the same corporate entity because it just doesn't work that way in this country.