B.C. – When findings of fact become errors of law – #715

In A.L. Sims and Son Ltd. v. British Columbia (Transportation and Infrastructure), 2022 BCCA 440, Justice Dickson held that a material misapprehension of evidence going to the core of the outcome of an arbitral award can amount to an extricable legal error on which a party can seek leave to appeal from the arbitral award. Sound familiar?

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Eric/James’s 2022 Hot Topic: What is next for arbitration and insolvency? (Part 1) – #698

By Eric Morgan and James Plotkin.

This past year brought two important decisions about the interrelationship between arbitration and insolvency proceedings: the Supreme Court’s decision in Peace River Hydro Partners v Petrowest, 2022 SCC 41 (“Petrowest”) and the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Mundo Media Ltd. (Re), 2022 ONCA 607 (“Mundo”). Both decisions, in different ways, concern the tension between judicial authority to supervise proceedings brought by a receiver or trustee under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, RSC 1985, c B-3 (“BIA”) and parties’ autonomy to choose to have their disputes determined through arbitration. While the two Courts reached the same bottom-line conclusion – that the particular arbitration clauses were “inoperative” in the circumstances of an insolvency and thus not binding on receivers or trustees – the decisions leave unanswered questions about the ways that insolvency and arbitration continue to interact with each other. 

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Ontario – Domestic arbitration statutes can supplement industry-specific arbitration schemes – #675

In Neuhaus Management Ltd v. Huang, 2022 ONSC 5548, the Ontario Divisional Court (Firestone RSJ, Stewart, and Akhtar JJ.) examined how Ontario’s domestic arbitration statute can be incorporated into and be read together with an industry-specific statutory arbitration scheme, the  Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, R.S.O.1990, c.O.31 (the “Ontario New Home Warranties Act”).

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Quebec – The broad powers of an arbitrator as “amiable composer” – #673

In Investissements immobiliers MB inc. c. SMP Direct inc., 2022 QCCS 3315, Justice Godbout affirmed the broad jurisdiction that an arbitrator has to grant remedies in oppression claims, especially when empowered as an ‘amiable composer’. An ‘amiable composer’ may make a binding decision based on equity (rather than law) and without procedural formalities. It is a role that has its roots in civil law (“amiable compositeur”).

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Québec – Light touch to determining arbitration clause application (except to the non-signatory, maybe!) – #638

In Cannatechnologie inc. c. Matica Enterprises Inc., 2022 QCCA 758, the Québec Court of Appeal (Justices Bélanger, Rancourt and Moore) affirmed the principle that a court should limit itself to a prima facie assessment of whether or not a dispute comes within the scope of an arbitration clause. If it does, a court proceeding regarding the dispute should be stayed so that the arbitrator can rule on his or her own jurisdiction.

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Ontario – Trial required to determine compliance with arbitration preconditions – #618

In H. R. Doornekamp Construction Ltd. v. Canada (Attorney General) (Department of Public Works and Government Services), 2022 ONSC 2247, the Divisional Court (Justices Stewart, Lederer and Tzimas) dismissed the Defendant’s motion for summary judgment and decided that a trial was required to determine whether a party had properly complied with a condition precedent to an arbitration clause. The issue was whether the Plaintiff’s rights under the dispute resolution clause were extinguished or whether the Defendant’s conduct was such that the Plaintiff’s rights were not yet engaged.

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Ontario – Opportunity to clarify how arbitration interfaces with registering land interests – #599

In Green Urban People Ltd. v. Berthault, 2022 ONSC 737, the Divisional Court (Justices Sachs, Morgan and D.L. Edwards) granted leave to appeal on the issue of whether a certificate of pending litigation (“CPL”) can be issued by the court in face of an arbitration agreement.

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Ontario – It’s not cricket: Ontario court emphasizes arbitral awards must include reasons – #580

In Alberta Cricket Association v. Alberta Cricket Council, 2021 ONSC 8451, Justice Perell took the rare step of setting aside an arbitral award for failing to state the reasons on which it was based. Justice Perell found that the arbitrator of a sports-related dispute had failed to deliver adequate reasons and so he set aside the award and directed a new arbitration to be conducted before a different arbitrator.

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Ontario – A reminder of the “hands off” approach of courts in arbitration even with oppression claims and injunctions – #561

In TSCC No. 2364 v. TSCC No. 2442, 2021 ONSC 7689, Justice Myers affirmed the “hands off” approach courts take regarding disputes that are properly the subject of an arbitration clause. The applicant condominium corporation sought an order by way of an oppression remedy or an injunction precluding the respondent condominium corporation from drawing amounts from a bank account for shared management services. The parties had already been through a lengthy arbitration regarding various disputes between them pursuant to a shared facilities agreement. Justice Myers held that the proper forum for the new disputes was arbitration.

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Ontario – Court denies stay of order authorizing CCAA sale process despite ongoing arbitration – #542

In Urbancorp Toronto Management Inc. (Re) 2021 ONCA 613, Justice Miller refused to grant a stay pending appeal of an order in a CCAA proceeding authorizing the sale of an interest in a property development. The moving party unsuccessfully argued that the sale should be postponed until the conclusion of an ongoing parallel arbitration, the outcome of which would materially impact the value of the interest. If the sale process was not postponed, the moving party argued, the ongoing arbitration would chill the sale process and it would be impossible to know if a higher sale price could be achieved. Justice Miller held that he could not substitute his own evaluation of the efficacy of the sale process over that of the lower court judge, who had dismissed as speculative the argument that the sale process would suffer a chilling effect.

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