Category: Contracts Page 1 of 12

By: Michael Ilg

Case Commented On: Achter Land & Cattle Ltd. v South West Terminal Ltd., 2024 SKCA 115 (CanLII)

PDF Version: I Do Solemnly : The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Endorses the Use of Emojis as Contractual Signatures (and the Decision is Kinda )

The most famous emoji in the history of Western Canadian grain contracts has been in the news again, though with much less fanfare than the first time. The trial court decision starring , South West Terminal Ltd. v Achter Land, 2023 SKKB 116 (CanLII) (Achter), garnered international media attention (see here, here, and here) with the novel story of the farmer found liable for a contract entered into by emoji. The recent appellate court decision in Achter Land & Cattle Ltd. v South West Terminal Ltd., 2024 SKCA 115 (CanLII) (Achter II), in comparison, received only a smattering of media coverage (see here and here). Perhaps appellate court endorsements of trial decisions are less newsworthy in general; or perhaps ’s fading popularity can be attributed to Gen Z, who are said to find  passive aggressive, hurtful, or even hostile. Though ‘s fifteen minutes of fame may be drawing to a close, its legal legacy may persist for years to come, and not necessarily for the good.

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By: Nigel Bankes

Matter Commented On: Alberta’s Standard Form Carbon Sequestration Agreement

PDF Version: Alberta’s Carbon Sequestration Agreement: An Analysis

The Government of Alberta (GoA) has finally released the form or template of the Carbon Sequestration Agreement (CSA) that it will use for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects organized as hub projects. A hub project is a CCS project in which one party provides transportation and sequestration (T & S) services to variety of emitters. One example is the Atlas Carbon Storage Hub promoted by ATCO EnPower and Shell Canada Products which received its final investment decision in June 2024. Previous ABlawg posts (here, here and here) have reviewed Alberta’s decision to adopt a hub approach to CCS in preference to the vertically integrated project approach that characterized Shell’s earlier Quest project (see ABlawg post here). A vertically integrated CCS project is a project in which a single party (or joint venture) is responsible for all three elements of the CCS value chain (that is to say, capture and compression, transportation, and injection and geological sequestration). In a hub project (or a hub and spoke project) one party (the hub operator) typically offers transportation and sequestration services (T & S) to a number of different large emitters. I refer readers to the earlier posts for the more detailed explanations of the background.

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By: Jassmine Girgis

Case Commented On: Ponce v Société d’investissements Rhéaume ltée, 2023 SCC 25 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Good Faith and Honest Performance and the Convergence between Common Law and Civil Law

The topic of good faith in the realm of contracts once again made it to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2023, but this time, in a case dealing with good faith as it arises under the Civil Code of Québec, CQLR c CCQ-1991 (Civil Code).

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By: Jassmine Girgis

Case Commented On: South West Terminal Ltd v Achter Land, 2023 SKKB 116 (Can LII)

PDF Version: New Technology and Contract Formation: The Continuing Evolution of the Common Law

In South West Terminal Ltd v Achter Land, 2023 SKKB 116 (Can LII) (Achter Land), Justice T.J. Keene stated: “this court cannot (nor should it) attempt to stem the tide of technology and common usage – this appears to be the new reality in Canadian society and courts will have to be ready to meet the new challenges that may arise from the use of emojis and the like” (at para 40).

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By: Jassmine Girgis

Case commented on: Bhatnagar v Cresco Labs Inc, 2023 ONCA 401 (CanLII)

PDF Version: There is No Presumption of Loss Flowing from a Breach of the Contractual Duty of Honest Performance

In Bhatnagar v Cresco Labs Inc, 2023 ONCA 401 (“Cresco Labs”), the Ontario Court of Appeal addressed whether the Supreme Court’s decision in CM Callow Inc v Zollinger, 2020 SCC 45 (CanLII) (“Callow”) created a legal presumption of loss once a court finds a breach of the contractual duty of good faith. The ONCA found that there is no presumption of loss and that a plaintiff claiming a loss of opportunity has the burden of providing evidence.

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