Yukon (Government of) v. Tarka

canada, canadian, case law, court opinion, canlii, ykca, 2026ykca2, 2026 ykca 2 (canlii), 2026, ykca, 2, (canlii), 24-yu924, 2026, lease and tenancy, interpretation of term, renewal, meaning of “30 years, or the life of the lessee”, whether the lease provided a term renewable during the lessee’s lifetime at the lessee’s option, sattva approach applied holistically to resolve ambiguity, words read in context and factual matrix, order for vacant possession set aside, appeal allowed, statutory interpretation, lands act, s. 14, lease duration and renewal, does s. 14 bar a life estate and allow renewal at the lessee’s option where the lease so provides?, illegality doctrine considered to avoid unlawful construction, ministerial approval inferred from terms, lease interpreted as renewable during life of lessee, application for vacant possession dismissed, property, proprietary estoppel, promissory estoppel, whether representations of a “life estate lease” created an enforceable life interest or estoppel, minister’s letter not offering a freehold life estate, representation “too ambiguous” to ground proprietary estoppel, promissory estoppel not established, estoppel claims not determinative, no proprietary or promissory estoppel established, procedure, appeals, standard of review, extricable error of law in contractual interpretation, whether correctness standard applies under sattva due to legal error, trial judge focused on ordinary meaning before context, constraining interpretation, appellate court interprets afresh with due regard to findings, appeal allowed