The oppression remedy empowers shareholders in commercial disputes by giving legal effect to their reasonable expectations of. A claim in s.241 of the Canada Business Corporations Act, RSC 1985, c C-44 [CBCA] is premised on a personal right of the shareholders. An oppression claim can be brought in a number of circumstances, including by a […]
Controversy surrounding new provincial legislation in British Columbia to curb foreign investment in the housing market and talks of similar measures for Ontario have kept all eyes on the red-hot housing markets across Canada. Furthermore, new federal mandates will take effect starting October 17, 2016 for the purchasing of homes, which will likely cause further […]
Due to a dearth of commercial appellate decisions around the holiday season, a tort decision from the Ontario Divisional Court has caught my attention. Swern v Amazon Hardwood Centre Inc, 2015 ONSC 7590 [Swern] is a Small Claims Court decision appealed by the Defendants to the Divisional Court on a number of well-reasoned points of […]
Mapleview-Veterans Drive Investments Inc. v Papa Kerollus VI Inc. (Mr. Sub), 2016 ONCA 93 [Mapleview], a case released yesterday by the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”), is the latest pronouncement on interpreting commercial lease provisions. While the outcome of the appeal is understandable given the facts relied upon by the parties, it causes concerns not […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in DLG & Associates Ltd. v Minto Properties, 2015 ONCA 705 [DLG], raises important issues around the limits of "exculpatory" and "entire agreement" clauses in leasing agreements: namely, how far they can be relied upon by a landlord who knowingly withholds key information from a tenant on the state […]
Not even a week after the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released its precedent changing decision in Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. v Structal Heavy Steel, 2015 SCC 43 [Structal] pertaining to the proper interpretation of provincial construction lien statutes, the Ontario Divisional Court (“ODC”) released its latest construction lien decision in K.H. Custom Homes […]
Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. v Structal Heavy Steel, 2015 SCC 43 [Structal] is the most recent case by the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) on the correct interpretation and application of the trust provisions found in provincial construction lien statutes. The issue before the SCC was whether a contractor’s statutory obligation to hold a […]
Durham Condominium Corporation No. 45 v Leslie Arthur Swan, 2015 ONCA 590 [Swan] is a brief case that raises key issues around board members’ statutory and contractual entitlements to be indemnified for legal liability and costs personally incurred in the course of duty. However, the issue that stands at the forefront of this case concerns […]
The British Columbia Court of Appeal ("BCCA") case KBA Canada, Inc v Supreme Graphics Limited, 2014 BCCA 117, was released this past March. The judgment reversed the decision of the lower court, with part of the courts’ analysis revealing contrasting opinions on the role of equity in determining the priority of a security interest that […]
In a decision released on October 17, 2014, Imperial Oil v Jacques, 2014 SCC 66 [Imperial Oil v Jacques], a majority of the Supreme Court Court ("SCC") upheld a Quebec motion court's ruling that allowed plaintiffs in a class action to access relevant government surveillance materials during civil discovery proceedings. The class action arose after an investigation of […]