Cases considered: Robinson v. Fiesta Hotel Group Resorts, 2008 ABQB 311

PDF Version: Ability to Sue in Alberta for Injuries Sustained on a Holiday Abroad

If like many Canadians you decide to take a winter vacation to follow the sun and you sustain serious personal injuries because of the negligence of your hotel, you may well want to sue the hotel in Alberta. Can you do so? Is it worthwhile to do so? These were two of the questions facing James Robinson.

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Cases Considered: 550 Capital Corp. v. David S. Cheetham Architect Ltd., 2008 ABQB 370

PDF Version: What’s Wrong with Landlords’ Rights?

Is it wrong for a landlord to insist on compliance with a term of a commercial lease? The recent judgment of Mr. Justice Sandy Park in 550 Capital Corp. v. David S. Cheetham Architect Ltd. certainly seems to indicate that it is inequitable for a landlord to require a tenant to do what it should have done, namely, to request the landlord’s consent to an assignment of the lease. The unidentified type of estoppel found to prevent the landlord from terminating the lease and the unnecessary relief from forfeiture granted so that the tenant could undo its assignment both appear, with all due respect, to be unjustified both on the facts and the law.

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Cases Considered: Mainstreet Hair Salon 1992 Ltd. v. Schumaker, 2008 ABQB 363

PDF Version: Bankruptcy and Student Loan Debts: An Ongoing Problem

Many individuals would be unable to undertake post-secondary education without assistance in the form of student loans for tuition payments and living expenses. Last year, about 350,000 college and university students relied on federal student loans worth $1.9 billion (K. Pinchin, “Government Accused of Milking Student Loan Plan,” Globe and Mail, July 22, 2007). The fact remains, however, that many students are unable to repay the loan upon graduation, and even an assignment in bankruptcy fails to discharge the debt. This comment discusses the difficulty surrounding the student loan and bankruptcy issue and determines that an answer satisfactory to all sides has yet to be reached.

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Cases Considered: Boardwalk REIT LLP v. Edmonton (City), 2008 ABCA 176

PDF Version: “Improper Jumps in Reasoning” on Judicial Disqualification says Court of Appeal

Enough already! That’s the Alberta Court of Appeal’s message on judicial disqualification applications. The court is not saying, “leave potential bias issues to us.” It is merely reinforcing the time honoured “reasonable apprehension of bias” principle. But there is a twist in this case. In fact, there are two.

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Cases Consiered: Husky Oil Operations Limited v. Gulf Canada Resources Limited 2008 ABQB 390

PDF Version: What happens when parties operate an oil battery without a formal agreement?

Husky Oil has complicated facts, some complex law (unjust enrichment, fiduciary obligation, rectification) and a confusing judgment, but surely only one possible result. Indeed, we wonder why it ever went to court at all.

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Cases Considered:  Morrow v. Insurance Bureau of Canada, 2008 ABCA 248

PDF Version: Another stay of judgment denied in the challenge to Alberta’s cap on damages for soft tissue injuries

The latest judgment in the constitutional challenge to Alberta’s $4,000 cap on non-pecuniary damages for soft tissue injuries incurred in motor vehicle accidents was handed down on June 27, 2008 by Madam Justice Patricia Rowbotham of the Alberta Court of Appeal. State Farm Insurance Company, the insurer of the defendant in the personal injury action, had applied for a stay of the February 8, 2008 judgment of Associate Chief Justice Neil Wittmann. He had declared the Minor Injury Regulation, Alta. Reg. 124/2004 (MIR) unconstitutional, thus ending the $4,000 cap. See Morrow v. Zhang, 2008 ABQB 98 and the previous post on this judgment by Jennifer Koshan, “Not on Their Backs: Cap on Damages for Soft Tissue Injuries Struck Down; Court Denies Stay of Remedy Pending Appeal.” Justice Rowbotham denied State Farm’s application.

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Cases Considered: 1198952 Alberta Ltd. v. 1356472 Alberta Ltd., 2008 ABQB 386

PDF Version: A Textbook First Year Property Law Case on the Fraud Exception to Indefeasibility

ALM Holdings Ltd. owned the Jasper Block, which is part of the Edmonton Historic Resource Management Program . It is a three storey Edwardian-era brick building on the north side of Jasper Avenue in central downtown Edmonton. 651730 Alberta Ltd. rented a part of the Jasper Block for a restaurant, the Fantasia Noodle House Restaurant. 1198952 Alberta Ltd. rented another part of the Jasper Block for a store, called Raleigh Foods. ALM sold the Jasper Block to 135647 Alberta Ltd. The question in this case was whether or not the purchaser, 135647 Alberta Ltd., was bound by ALM’s leases to the Noodle House and Raleigh Foods. The tenants sought a declaration from the court that the purchaser’s title to the Jasper Block was subject to their leases. The purchaser sought an order forcing the Noodle House and Raleigh Foods to vacate their premises in the Jasper Block.

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Cases Considered: Nexxtep Resources Ltd. v. Talisman Energy Inc et al, 2007 ABQB 788; aff’d 2008 ABCA 246

PDF Version: What happens when the deep rights you just purchased are being drained by the vendor’s shallow rights well?

What happens when a purchaser obtains the deep rights under certain oil and gas leases (along with a producing horizontal well) and the parties exclude another vertical well on the basis that it is producing from the shallow rights retained by the vendor and later the purchaser forms the view that the well is producing from the deep rights and not the shallow rights? That is the issue on the merits in Nexxtep - barring disagreements as to just where the vertical well was producing from. At present the case is reported only on certain preliminary matters, Nexxtep’s request for an injunction and Talisman’s request for summary judgment.

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