Canada Case Law

British Columbia v. Apotex Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court accepted the Province's construction of the ORA's three-stage framework and held that at Stage 1 only documents material to the specified common issues (1, 2, 8 and 43) are relevant; broad defense demands for documentary production from the representative plaintiff and class members are premature and overbroad and therefore dismissed except that the Province must produce limited classes of documents relevant to the unjust enrichment claim (documents related to the Province's opioid purchases and documents relating to circumstances where opioid use by an insured person is not medical…

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• Opioid damages and health care costs recovery act (ora)
• Document disclosure and discovery
• Staging of trial under statute
• Discovery from class members (cpa s.17)
• Duty to warn
• Unjust enrichment

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Metcalfe v. Thermofluid Technologies Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Le tribunal a rejeté une action en responsabilité du fait des produits après avoir conclu que les avertissements du produit étaient suffisants et que le demandeur ne les avait pas lus ni suivis.

• Adequacy of warnings
• Duty to warn
• Design defect (absence of self-sealing valve)
• Causation
• Contributory negligence / plaintiff fault
• Summary trial suitability

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McKee v. Shahid

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed an appeal from a motion to strike in a negligence action against psychiatrists, holding the treatment-based duty-of-care claim was arguable.

• Duty of care
• Anns/cooper proximity and policy analysis
• Duty to warn
• Motion to strike
• Conflict of duties
• Duty-of-care

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Centurion Apartment Properties Limited Partnership v. Loco Investments Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court added Glotman Simpson and Levi Stoelting as defendants in a building-defect action, but refused to add EGBC because no properly pleaded cause of action was shown.

• Joinder
• Pleading amendment
• Limitation period and discoverability
• Negligence
• Duty to warn
• Regulatory immunity

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Manson v. Mitchell

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Application for leave to amend a pleading granted in part and refused in part in a mountain-guiding negligence case, including negligent misrepresentation and damages issues.

• Negligence
• Negligent misrepresentation
• Pleadings and amendments
• Limitation periods
• Aggravated damages
• Punitive damages

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Aidoo v. The King

Court

Tax Court of Canada

The Tax Court dismissed Eric Aidoo’s appeal over GLGI-related charitable donation claims for the 2007 taxation year, finding no donative intent and rejecting ancillary arguments.

• Charitable donations
• Donative intent
• Sham transactions
• Fair market value (valuation)
• Trust validity
• Duty to warn

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Woldemariam v. Reid

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal in a medical negligence case, finding the pleading did not allege a failure to warn about possible amputation.

• Duty to warn
• Summary trial
• Leave to amend
• Pleading requirements
• Informed consent
• Battery

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North v. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court dismissed the plaintiffs' appeal and allowed BMW's cross-appeal, setting aside the certification order because the certification judge erred as a matter of law by (1) certifying claims premised on recovery of repair costs for damage to the engine when the pleadings and law characterized the loss as pure economic loss not recoverable except to the extent the costs were incurred to avert a real and substantial danger, which was not established here, and (2) finding a suitable representative plaintiff in the absence of any class member who had sustained a legally cognizable recoverable…

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• Certification
• Pure economic loss
• Duty to warn
• Complex structure theory
• Representative plaintiff
• Damages

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Evans v. Berry

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Appeal dismissed in a dog-bite case. The Court of Appeal upheld findings that scienter was not proven and that the owners did not breach the standard of care.

• Scienter doctrine
• Duty of care
• Duty to warn
• Standard of care
• Contributory negligence
• Volenti non fit injuria

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van Delft v. Maddalena

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The lawyer breached his duty by failing to explain the existence, meaning and risks of the NSPI easement (the "non-easement") and thus was negligent and in breach of contract; however, plaintiffs failed to prove compensable loss because expert valuations showed market value met or exceeded the purchase price, so relief is limited to nominal damages of $1,000 and no costs awarded.

Source excerpt

• Easement interpretation
• Duty to warn
• Standard of care for lawyers
• Causation (but for)
• Damages - nominal damages
• Title insurance

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