In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the British Columbia Supreme Court (the “Court”) has suspended regular operations at all of its locations from March 19th, 2020 to May 29th, 2020 (the “Suspension Period”).[1] In an effort to balance the seriousness of the situation with the principles of open courts and timely access to justice, the Court continues to hear certain “urgen
On April 15, 2020, the British Columbia Supreme Court denied an application by a married couple previously found to have contravened B.C. securities laws for an absolute or suspended discharge from bankruptcy under s. 172 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the “BIA”). The ruling sends a strong message that securities law violators will have difficulty using the bankruptcy process to absolve themselves of the financial consequences of their misdeeds.
The Court of Appeal for Ontario's decision in Dal Bianco v Deem Management Services Limited, 2020 ONCA 585 [Dal Bianco] is the most recent pronouncement on resolving procedural conflicts between the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, RSC, 1985, c B-3 (BIA) and provincial enactments.
Good afternoon.
Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the weeks of September 7 to 11 and September 14 to 18, 2020.
The past two weeks saw ten substantive decisions released by the Court of Appeal. Topics covered included bankruptcy & insolvency, contracts (freight), enforcement of letters of request by foreign courts, family law and insurance, as well as the usual procedural decisions relating to extensions of time and appellate jurisdiction.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend.
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.
The Supreme Court this winter will hear (and in one case, has heard and determined) high-profile appeals involving federal and provincial government powers, corporate rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and two complex commercial appeals.
The Court is also expected to release several decisions on contract law in 2020 that will have significant implications for businesses.
Appeal Heard and Decided
In Yukon (Government of) v. Yukon Zinc Corporation, 2019 YKSC 39 (“Yukon Zinc”), the Yukon Supreme Court recently lifted a stay of proceedings imposed in proposal proceedings commenced in British Columbia by Yukon Zinc, a Vancouver-based mining company whose principal asset is the Wolverine Mine in Yukon.
A strata wind-up is an excellent way to realize the economic potential of a multi-unit residential property ("strata") by leveraging the value of each strata unit in the strata as a whole to a developer that may want to develop on the strata's property. However, the wind-up process is complex, involving the intersection of real estate, condominium law ("strata property law"), and the law of restructuring.
Winding up of a strata corporation
In a recent Bennett Jones Update—Property Tax Priorities in Alberta Insolvency Proceedings: Current Uncertainty—we discussed three recent decisions of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta that had addressed the question of the priority of municipal property taxes in insolvency proceedings.