Domestic Archives - Page 12 of 27

April 24, 2023May 1, 2023

Alberta – Former arbitrator, now judge/facilitator in same matter not biased – #730

In Shannon v Shannon, 2023 ABCA 79, the Appellant appealed the final consent order of a judge of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (as it then was), which was made after a Binding Judicial Dispute Resolution (“BJDR”) process under the Alberta Rules of Court, AR 124/2010 and AR 194/202. The parties signed a Resolution Agreement dated February 16, 2021, which disposed of all the issues in dispute and whose terms were incorporated into a consent order. Both parties had counsel during the BJDR process, but not on the appeal. The Appellant challenged the consent order on the bases that: (1) there was a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the judge who facilitated the BJDR process because she had previously acted as arbitrator in the same matter before she was appointed to the Bench; and (2) the Appellant was not competent to enter into the Resolution Agreement that led to the consent order, which should be set aside as null and void. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal because it found that the Appellant had consented to having the judge who had previously sat as arbitrator facilitate the BJDR process, but also that a reasonable apprehension of bias allegation could not be established – there is a high burden to show that a superior court judge would not disabuse her mind of anything learned on a prior occasion and there is also a strong presumption that a judge will act judicially.

April 12, 2023April 10, 2023

B.C. – Court of Appeal finds extricable error in contract interpretation (again) – #728

In Mann v. Grewal, 2023 BCCA 88, the BC Court of Appeal upheld the judgment below (1) finding an extricable error of law in the sole arbitrator’s interpretation of a settlement agreement, and (2) amending the award rather than remitting it to the arbitrator. The Arbitrator’s error of law was that he failed to interpret the agreement at the center of the dispute and – in effect – re-wrote the parties’ agreement.

March 30, 2023March 27, 2023

Québec – Interpretation of two shareholder agreements requires more than a superficial analysis – #725

In Gifran inc. c. 9225-2071 Québec inc., 2023 QCCA 311, the Québec Court of Appeal (the “Court”) recalled the principles governing an exception to the compétence-compétence principle and ordered a stay in favor of arbitration, overturning the Superior Court Judge’s decision. The Court commented on the scope of the exception relating to questions of mixed fact and law that require only superficial consideration of the evidence in the record, in the context of a shareholder dispute. It noted that the Superior Court Judge had not provided reasons as to why the exception applied in this case and found that the exception did not in fact apply, because an in-depth analysis of the respective scopes of two separate shareholder agreements (one with an arbitration clause and one without) was required. The Court also held that the mere presence of related third parties in the dispute was not sufficient to deny the stay application.

March 28, 2023March 31, 2023

Ontario – Deferential approach on set-aside application for want of procedural fairness – #723

In Aquanta Group Inc. v. Lightbox Enterprises Ltd., 2023 ONSC 971, Justice Akbarali dismissed an application to set aside an arbitral award on procedural fairness grounds under paragraph 46(1) 6 of the Ontario Arbitration Act, 1991 [the “Act”]. This decision showcases the margin of manoeuver arbitrators enjoy on discretionary procedural decisions.

March 27, 2023March 27, 2023

B.C. – The sensitive issue of adverse credibility findings and requests for accommodation – #722

Campbell v The Bloom Group, 2023 BCCA 84 raises a point of procedural fairness of interest to all decision makers: the importance of being mindful that adverse credibility findings not be influenced by requests for witness accommodation made either for disability or analogous reasons. Here, in obiter, the Court of Appeal noted that, as the Arbitrator had not erred in his negative credibility findings based on the many other reasons he found to disbelieve the Appellant’s evidence, it was unnecessary for him to comment on the fact that he also doubted the truthfulness of the Appellant’s evidence as to her need for accommodation based on disability. Decision makers should try to avoid even the appearance of adverse credibility findings being based on generalities or accommodations sought.

March 15, 2023March 9, 2023

Ontario – no jurisdiction over dispute not properly raised in arbitration – #720

In EBC Inc. v. City of Ottawa, the parties’ primary construction contract contained a multi-tier dispute resolution clause that provided for notice, negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. The parties also negotiated an agreement that contained a Claims Process applicable to disputes between them that provided for the exchange of documentation, negotiation, mediation and arbitration. The parties followed the Claims Process and proceeded to arbitration on a number of issues consisting of a jurisdiction motion and then three arbitral phases. As part of the jurisdiction motion the Arbitrator held that the arbitration could only address claims that had been advanced prior to September 2018. After completion of the arbitration, EBC brought an application for payment of money from the Respondent City, which was an issue that had not been raised in the Claims Process. Justice P. J. Boucher rejected EBC’s application on the basis that as the dispute arose after September, 2018, it should have been raised using the dispute resolution process in the Contract, and not before the court.

March 14, 2023March 10, 2023

New Brunswick – Awaiting response to arbitrate extends time for JR of decision – #719

In New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation v Madawaska First Nation, 2023 NBCA 1, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick (“NBCA”) per Justices Drapeau, French, and LeBlond, upheld the application judge’s decision that the appellant’s response that it would consider arbitration was not a decision that started the limitation period for bringing a judicial review application.

March 2, 2023February 23, 2023

Québec – Class Actions: rules for referral to arbitration should be followed – #717

In Vidéotron c. 9238-0831 Québec inc. (Caféier-Boustifo), 2023 QCCA 110, the Court of Appeal dismissed Vidéotron’s appeal and confirmed Justice Lussier’s first instance judgement dismissing Vidéotron’s request to limit the definition of the plaintiff group in a class action to only those customers whose contracts do not contain an arbitration clause. After the application for authorization was filed but before it was decided, Vidéotron amended its contracts with all new customers so that they contained an arbitration clause. Almost three years later, it sought to change the definition of the plaintiff group so that it included only those customers with contracts that pre-dated the amendment to include an arbitration clause. Justice Lussier found that Vidéotron was out of time. The Court of Appeal confirmed that section 622 CCP and its 45-day limit for an application for referral to arbitration are applicable to class action proceedings as well as to any other proceedings. Even if this limit is not de rigueur, the party asking for referral to arbitration has the burden of proof to justify any added delay. The Court of Appeal also reaffirmed that, based on an arbitration clause, the motion to request a modification to a plaintiff group in a class action is equivalent to a jurisdiction challenge. The Court of Appeal confirmed Justice Lussier’s ruling that Vidéotron did not meet its burden of proof to justify its delay to file its application to change the definition of the plaintiff class.

March 1, 2023February 23, 2023

Alberta – Claimants denied stay of own action in favour of arbitration – #716

In 10060 Jasper Avenue Building Limited v Scotia Place Tower III Inc, 2023 ABKB 23, Justice Summers refused an application to stay a proceeding brought by the party who commenced it. He found that the applicant party did not have status to make the application under the relevant arbitration legislation.

February 28, 2023February 23, 2023

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?