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Cases

ONTARIO – Arbitration – Costs – Subsection 15(c) of the Tarion Addendum to an agreement of purchase and sale (APS) changes the costs regime imposed by s. 131 of the Courts of Justice Act and the Rules of Civil Procedure (“RCP”). The general rule of costs following the event under the RCP does not govern and purchasers are presumed entitled to their costs regardless of the outcome of the arbitration. The arbitrator may only deviate from the presumption that the vendor pays the arbitrator’s fees and disbursements and the reasonable fees and disbursements of the purchaser for just cause.

ONTARIO – Contract law – Contracts – Breach of Contract – Duty of Good Faith, Conversion, Breach of Confidence, Breach of Fiduciary Duty – Non-competition covenants — Torts — Independent Contractor Agreements.

ONTARIO – Oral Contracts for Sale of Land – Doctrine of Part Performance - Statute of Frauds, s. 4 -- When a buyer and a seller of land make an oral agreement for sale, the exception to section 4 of the Statute of Frauds applies if the claiming party proves that 1) all elements of the contract were agreed or acquiesced, 2) substantial steps taken to carry out the transaction making it inequitable to allow the other party to rely on the absence of a written agreement, and 3) there is some evidence of detrimental reliance, which may include the enforcing party’s inability to acquire the property -- Trial judge’s finding that doctrine of part performance applies is subject to deference on appeal.

ONTARIO – Arbitration – Enforcement – Where none of the conditions in s. 50(3)(a) to (d) of the Arbitration Act, 1991 are present, the court is required to grant judgment enforcing the award. Issues between co-respondents to an application for enforcement under s. 50 of the Act that do not engage with the questions listed under subsections 50(3)(a) to (d) are not relevant to the application.

ONTARIO – Interlocutory Remedies – Appointment of a Monitor in an action for relief from oppression – Ontario Business Corporations Act, s. 161 and Courts of Justice Act, s. 101 - The stringency of the test depends upon the precise nature of the role and mandate of the proposed court-appointed monitor.

ONTARIO – LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS – Limited partners have protection from the liabilities of a limited partnership; in return, they are entitled to payment of their share of the limited partnership’s profit upon dissolution. They do not have a right to distributions until the dissolution.