Good afternoon.

Following are this week’s summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

In Gidda (Re), 2020 BCSC 121, the Supreme Court of British Columbia affirmed the Crown’s priority as a secured creditor in bankruptcy proceedings, insofar as the registration of a tax debt judgment against the bankrupt’s interests in property is made prior to the bankruptcy order or assignment. The case is an appeal from a decision by a trustee in bankruptcy, who denied the Crown’s entitlement to proceeds from the sale of the Bankrupts’ property following his voluntary assignment into bankruptcy.

On October 10, 2019, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the “BCSC” or the “Court”) released its decision in 8640025 Canada Inc. (Re)¹ (“8640025 Canada”), denying an application to replace the monitor (the “Monitor”) in a Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act² (the "CCAA") proceeding because the applicant was not a creditor and therefore had no standing to bring such an application.

Introduction

Before July 2016, in order to wind-up a strata corporation voluntarily through a liquidator in B.C., unanimous approval of the strata owners was generally required. The unanimity requirement made strata wind-ups a rare event, and consequently it was exceedingly difficult for owners to sell a strata complex in its entirety for redevelopment. In an influential 2015 report, the B.C. Law Institute (“BCLI”) identified some of the problems with the unanimity requirement:

The difference between debt and equity claims can cause confusion among lenders, creditors, and insolvency professionals alike. In Tudor Sales Ltd. (Re), the British Columbia Supreme Court provided further judicial guidance on this distinction.

In a recent decision[1], the British Columbia Supreme Court (the “Court”) determined that purported secured loans made by a shareholder were properly characterized as equity contributions to the subject company and therefore subordinate to the claims of the company’s creditors.

APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED

37656

Norris Barens v. Her Majesty the Queen (B.C.)

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – Constitutional law – Mobility rights

The applicant was convicted of driving without a licence contrary to s. 24(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 318.

The Owners, Strata Plan VR 1966[1] marks the first time the BC Supreme Court has rejected an application to wind-up a strata corporation pursuant to Bill 40 under the Strata Property Act

On January 25, 2017, the British Columbia Supreme Court rendered its decision in Tudor Sales Ltd. (Re), 2017 BCSC 119.

The recent British Columbia Supreme Court decision in Yukon Zinc Corporation (Re), 2015 BCSC 836, provides some rare insight into the operation of provincial “miners lien” legislation in an insolvency context.

Background