On October 17, 2017, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) released Airia Brands Inc v Air Canada, 2017 ONCA 792 [Airia], an important decision in which the ONCA clarified and restated the test for determining when Ontario courts can assume jurisdiction over class actions involving absent foreign claimants. This decision provided much-needed clarity on the […]
On July 13, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada released Wilson v Alharayeri, 2017 SCC 39 [Wilson], in which it unanimously reaffirmed that a corporation’s directors, as opposed to the corporation, may be personally liable in an oppressive action. This provided much-needed clarity on the scope of potential personal liability of directors and officers under […]
When parties sign a contract, they have usually settled on an agreement that they find to be mutually beneficial, and are therefore happy to do business with one another. However, issues can arise when parties jump headfirst into an agreement without consideration for how to terminate it. For some contracts, such as a one-time sale […]
After the underdog Ecuadorians’ victory in Chevron Corp v Yaiguaje, 2015 SCC 42, which established that judgements against foreign corporations can be enforced against Canadian subsidiaries, the Goliath Chevron Corporation has struck back with a potentially debilitating blow to the Ecuadorians seeking enforcement of their $9.5 billion award with a motion for security costs. A […]
The idea of who directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty to has been debated for quite some time, both in the courts and within academia. Although this discussion has received complicated and mixed opinions, the age-old question unfolds rather simply: Does a corporation—its directors and officers included—owe a duty to non-shareholder stakeholders, or is […]
This guest post was contributed by Kathryn Chan. Kathryn Chan is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, where she teaches Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Non-profit Sector Law. We have recently reached the end of the penultimate round of court cases involving Trinity Western University (“TWU”) and the various provincial law […]
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 […]
Lafortune v Financière agricole du Québec, 2016 SCC 35, is a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada directly impacting Québec’s farming industry. The decision affirms La Financière Agricole du Québec’s (“La Financière”) administration of a farm income program known as the Programme d’assurance stabilisation des revenus agricoles (“ASRA Program”), concluding that such program […]
In the height of tax season, corporations are reminded that regardless of their dissolved status, the government will always get its due. Dissolution does not offer protection against a tax assessment, and second, the dissolved status of a corporation must be addressed before a court is able to hear a corporation’s legal appeal.
The Executives of Livent were masters of live performance. Known for producing popular shows such as The Phantom of the Opera and Show Boat, they never thought their own escapades would play out in the media as a protracted drama with a final act orchestrated by the highest court in Ontario.