Admiralty law
Paul argued that the ss. 130 to 141 of the BC Forest Practices Code are ultra vires because they trench upon the core of Indianness, as protected by s. 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867. Specifically, counsel for Paul argued that these sections of the act, which provide that the Commission may rule on matters of law, including aboriginal rights (as argued subsequently), are ultra vires by operation of interjurisdictional immunity. This doctrine holds that "where the general language of a provincial statute can be read to trench upon exclusive federal power in its application specific factual contexts, the statute must be read down so as not to apply to those situations". The court considered this argument, but rejected it. The reason why they rejected the argument in this case was that the statute in question merely allowed the provincial Commission to take cognizances of existing constitutional rights, not to alter or supplant those rights. The court held that a provincial board may adjudicate matters within federal legislative competence. In coming to this conclusion the court turned to a long line of authorities, including Ontario (Attorney General) v. Pembina Exploration Canada Ltd., which have held that provincially constituted courts can adjudicate matters of exclusive federal jurisdiction, such as Admiralty law.