To mark the looming onslaught of bills from holiday expenses, it is fitting, albeit in somewhat of a sadistic way, to discuss the SCC’s most recent pronouncements in the field of insolvency law. On December 16, 2010 the SCC released its decision in Century Services Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) 2010 SCC 60. This decision [...]

This November, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will weave in and around federal and provincial legislation that has generated consternation over divorce and property division equity in Canadian provinces. The judges will hear party submissions from the Manitoba Court of Appeal (“MCA”) decision of Schreyer v. Schreyer, 2009 MBCA 84, a judgment that ultimately released [...]

Newfoundland has failed in its latest effort to compel AbitibiBowater Inc. to clean up industrial sites that the company once owned and operated in the province. The Quebec Court of Appeal decision in Newfoundland v. AbitibiBowater Inc., 2010 QCCA 965, denied the province leave to appeal of an earlier decision by the Superior Court in [...]

On March 9th, 2010, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Danso-Coffey v. Ontario, 2010 ONCA 171. The case deals with an individual who is named a director of a corporation without her consent or knowledge. Danso-Coffey was owned and incorporated by Ms. Danso-Coffey’s brother. Without her knowledge, she was named one of [...]

The only surprising thing about the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Quebec (Revenue) v. Caisse populaire Desjardins de Montmagny, 2009 SCC 49, is that the Quebec Superior Court at first instance found in favour of the Crown in all three cases from which the appeals arose. The issue in C.P. Desjardins de Montmagny [...]

In its recent decision in Caisse Populaire Desjardins de L’est de Drummond v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2009 SCC 29, the Supreme Court considered a controversial topic in insolvency law: federal deemed trusts as they are applicable to payroll deduction. Justice Rothstein, writing for the majority, concurred with the Federal Court of Appeal [...]

On October 23, 2008, the Supreme Court announced that it granted leave to appeal to an unusual B.C. case that, despite a recognized need for refinement, is unlikely to significantly clarify the law of fiduciary duty. Michael Z. Galambos, et al. v. Estela Perez (32586) presents a fact scenario in which the relationship between the [...]

Last Friday, the SCC released a decision that may prove to be the big catch the Canadian fishing industry was waiting for. In Saulnier v. Royal Bank of Canada, 2008 SCC 58, fishing licenses were held to be ‘property’ for the purposes of the federal Banking and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) and Nova Scotia’s Personal Property [...]

Both sides in the Metcalfe & Mansfield case (involving the treatment of asset-backed commercial paper in a bankruptcy settlement) have now stated their hopes that, should the Supreme Court of Canada hear the case, it might come to a quick decision. More pointedly, counsel for Ivanhoe Mines say they want a hearing by the end [...]

After the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in BCE Inc., et al. v. A Group of 1976 Debentureholders in June, newspaper business pages across the nation were once more reminded that the Supreme Court exists and is relevant to the financial news which they cover. Now, once more, the media is abuzz over a big-money [...]