The company behind a scrapyard on Toombs Street in Moncton is asking a judge to overturn a decision not to renew its licence.
American Iron & Metal Company (AIM) filed an application in the Court of King’s Bench in October, seeking an order to quash and set aside the public safety minister’s decision regarding its salvage dealer licence.
AIM has alleged Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin decision not to renew was unreasonable based on the history of the licence, the record he had, and his failure to provide any explanation or analysis to support the decision.
“The Minister based his decision on irrelevant factors and prejudged the question of whether it was in the public interest to renew the (l)icence, demonstrating an impermissibly closed mind and bias,” the application states.
AIM has owned the facility on Toombs Street since 2023 and received a salvage dealer licence on June 19, 2023.
A metal recycling facility has operated without interruption at that location since 1984, and AIM argued the government must have considered it to be compliant with a regulatory framework created by the Unsightly Premises Act and the Salvage Dealers Licensing Act.
AIM also alleged the minister relied on public complaints, but the company was not made aware of them.
In September 2023, following a fire at the company’s scrapyard in Saint John, there was increased activity in Moncton as scrap was moved from the Saint John site.
“This temporary uptick in traffic at the Facility, combined with an increased in the negative perception of AIM’s operations amongst those who lived near a scrap recycling facility, led to an increase in complaints about the operations at the Facility in late 2023 and early 2024,” the application said.
Then-public safety minister Kris Austin raised various concerns with AIM in a letter in May 2024, including that the Moncton facility violated the Unsightly Premises Act because it was too close to two public parks, a playground, and the Sistema Children’s Centre.
AIM provided detailed responses to the complaints, and provided the minister with a noise abatement plan and proposed a framework to deal with future public complaints.
Austin advised AIM on Sept. 13, 2024, that he wouldn’t suspend or revoke the licence. AIM claimed the decision was based on Austin’s consideration of the reports they had filed, the compliance actions they’d engaged in, and the commitment to implementing a noise abatement plan.
Austin imposed eight conditions on the licence, including a requirement that AIM not increase the operations or footprint of the scrapyard.
In June 2025, Gauvin approved an application from AIM for a salvage dealer’s licence for a site in Scoudouc. At the same time, Gauvin informed AIM he was considering refusing to renew the licence for the Moncton site based on several factors, including failure to comply with a 300-metre setback required by the Unsightly Premises Act and that it was too close to parks, a playground and Sistema.
“All of the concerns identified in the June letter had been identified as concerns during the 2024 review,” the application claimed. “These concerns were addressed by AIM in 2024, leading to the Minister’s decision not to suspend or revoke the licence.”
Gauvin informed AIM on July 18, 2025, that he would not renew the licence, but AIM claimed there was no explanation or analysis to support the decision.
The provincial government has yet to file any response. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
