Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

In June, 2014, a Notice of Civil Claim was filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court in the case of Adolfo Garcia v. Tahoe Resources Inc. (“Garcia”).  In Garcia, the plaintiffs have sued a Canadian parent company that conducts mining activities through a foreign subsidiary in Guatemala.  This is the first time this type of claim has been bought in British Columbia ...

Two of the main benefits of private arbitration are said to be speed and finality. However, the long running case of Sattva Capital Corporation v. Creston Moly Corporation has been a prime example of how court intervention into the arbitration process can lead to arbitration being anything but speedy or final. I first blogged about this case on May 9, 2011 when it had ...

On November 28, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released one decision in two appeals concerning a taxpayer’s ability to correct an error in an agreement entered into for tax planning purposes.  Although Quebec (Agencie du Revenu) v. Services Environnementaux AES inc., 2013 SCC 65 (“AES”), dealt with this issue under the Quebec Civil Code, it does have broader ...

Many readers would be surprised to know that where you purchase real property with money provided from a third party there is a presumption that you are purchasing that property, or interest in that property, on behalf of the third person.  This is called the doctrine of “purchase money resulting trust”.  Until recently, there was some question as to whether this remained ...

On March 7, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada issued an important decision regarding the obligation of public authorities to compensate private landowners in circumstances where public infrastructure construction has interfered with the private use and enjoyment of land.  In doing so, the Court ruled that a court must weigh the overriding public good occasioned by the ...

In general, corporate legislation in Canada provides that if a corporation engages in specific types of transactions, such as an arrangement or amalgamation, shareholders are entitled to vote against the transaction.  If the transaction is nevertheless approved, shareholders can then exercise a right to dissent and be paid fair value for their shares. 

Last month, I ...

On October 2, 2012, I blogged about court intervention in shareholder proxy contests in British Columbia.  One of the cases referenced was a petition brought by TELUS to quash a meeting of TELUS’s shareholders requisitioned by an American hedge fund, Mason Capital Management LLC (“Mason Capital”).  This meeting was requisitioned in an attempt to block a merger of ...

2012 has seen a large increase in court applications relating to shareholder proxy contests in British Columbia.  In the face of these increased number of applications, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has shown an increased willingness to intervene to ensure meetings and proxy contests are conducted fairly.

On September 20, 2012, the Court gave oral reasons in ...

On September 7, 2012, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, sitting as the Yukon Court of Appeal, heard the appeal from the Yukon Supreme Court decision in Matre et al v. Crew Gold Corporation, 2011 YKSC 75.  The Court of Appeal’s eventual decision will address the question of whether beneficial, as opposed to registered, shareholders can exercise dissent rights under ...

Canada has two official languages – English and French - arising from our unique heritage as a country.  Given this status, one may have assumed both official languages were freely used in the courts across the country.  Not so says the British Columbia Court of Appeal which recently ruled that documents, not in the English language, without a certified translation cannot be ...