On April 15, 2013, in Ann Schwoob v. Bayer Inc.,the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified a product liability class action in respect of pharmaceutical products manufactured by Bayer Inc. In so doing, the Court’s reasoning highlighted the continued uncertainty surrounding the requirements for class certification in the product liability area, especially regarding the standard for pleadings and the acceptability of the ubiquitous “waiver of tort” allegations.
Apr 29, 2013
In cases heard barely two weeks apart, Canada’s Competition Bureau obtained record-setting fines against two Japanese auto parts suppliers that pleaded guilty to bid-rigging charges.
Apr 23, 2013
On April 2, 2013, the Government of Alberta released a revised draft of its First Nations consultation policy, corporate guidelines and consultation matrix for review and comment. This policy calls for significant changes to Alberta’s Aboriginal affairs regime for resource development by establishing an Aboriginal Consultation Office to manage all aspects of consultation and by making substantial changes to the consultation process.
Apr 22, 2013
In an unexpectedly brief decision dated April 15, 2013, the Competition Tribunal dismissed the Commissioner of Competition’s application challenging certain practices of the Toronto Real Estate Board under the abuse of dominance provisions in section 79 of the Competition Act. The Tribunal dismissed the application on the basis that section 79 did not apply to the conduct at issue. The Commissioner has 30 days to appeal the decision.
Apr 18, 2013
A recent decision of the Alberta Securities Commission addresses allegations of insider trading (and in the case of one respondent, tipping) against several senior officers of a public company and a spouse of an executive. In that decision, market participants were reminded that context is “all-important” in the determination of materiality. While the decision expressly dealt with allegations of insider trading, it also provided broader guidance on issues of materiality.
Apr 15, 2013
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently confirmed that foreign states can hinder a plaintiff from serving a foreign defendant if that defendant resides in a country that is a member of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters and the foreign state refuses to effect service.
Apr 11, 2013
On March 22, 2013, U.S. regulators, consisting of the Office of the Controller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, issued their final interagency guidance on leveraged lending.
Apr 9, 2013
In February 2013, Justice Green of the Ontario Court of Justice held that sunlight reflected from a building can be considered a contaminant under the Ontario Environmental Protection Act (EPA). Justice Green’s ruling, while surprising, appears to be consistent with other recent Ontario court decisions that have recognized unconventional “contaminants” under the broad definition contained in the EPA.
Mar 27, 2013
In Midwest v. Thordarson, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a property owner’s claim for damages for remediation costs stemming from the alleged migration of contaminants from a neighbouring property. Somewhat surprisingly, the Court adopted a restrictive damages analysis in the context of private nuisance, concluding it is not enough to establish that contaminants can pass or even have passed from one contaminated property to another.
Mar 27, 2013
A new agreement between British Columbia and Canada may streamline the environmental assessment (EA) for projects that require both provincial and federal review. The British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on the substitution of environmental assessments (MOU) with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (Agency) on March 15, 2013.
Mar 26, 2013