ONTARIO – Jurisdiction of Superior Court of Justice over oppression cases – The Court does not have continuing jurisdiction to set aside a final order or replace it with an order for a new valuation date. Where the Court has determined an oppression application, including the valuation date and the share value, the order is final before that Court, subject to only a very limited jurisdiction under Rule 59.06. The consequences of allowing a party to reargue a case to obtain a more favourable valuation date under Rule 59.06 would be that orders are not final.

ONTARIO – Appeal – To prove the tort of conversion in respect of a book of business, which is an intangible asset, written agreements about ownership and the nature of the relationship between the parties are necessary.

ONTARIO – Shareholder’s Right to Audited Financial Statements – The court does not have discretion to refuse a shareholder’s request for the corporation to produce audited financial statements. A shareholder’s right to information or material, including audited financial statements, under the OBCA is clear and mandatory.

ONTARIO – Arbitration – Limited scope of judicial review under s. 45(2) and 46 of the Arbitration Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 17 (“AA”) – Where an Arbitrator made extensive factual findings in a complicated contract dispute arising from a construction project and made no errors on extricable questions of law, the Arbitrator’s Awards were immune from appeal. Judicial review of arbitral awards under s. 45(2) is limited to questions of law. The application judge erred by deciding that the Arbitrator made extricable errors of law in the arbitral awards.

ONTARIO – Oppression Remedy – Interim injunctive Relief – Where there were serious issues to be tried as to self-dealing and financial irregularities by the CEO, director and 25% shareholder of a restaurant franchise business and where the business was at risk of insolvency, the Court held that the test for injunctive relief was met and the risk of financial collapse and potential insolvency constituted irreparable harm.

ONTARIO – Arbitration – Court’s right to interfere with an arbitrator’s award under s. 46(1)3 of the Arbitration Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 17 (the “Act”) is limited to whether the arbitrator had jurisdiction to decide the matter. Where the application judge finds that an arbitrator had jurisdiction to interpret an agreement, and did so, the role of the court under s. 46(1)3 of the Act is at an end, and it is irrelevant whether the interpretation was correct or reasonable.