Limitations – Page 2

By: Nickie Nikolaou

PDF Version: Extending Limitation Periods for Environmental Actions

Case Commented On: Lakeview Village Professional Centre Corporation v Suncor Energy Inc, 2016 ABQB 288 (CanLII)

The nature of environmental contamination often requires the bending of usual legal rules. Because contamination can take years to develop or be discovered, the application of traditional limitation periods to actions for the recovery of damages from environmental contamination could result in unfairness. It could also mean the ultimate costs of clean-up would fall to the public purse if no financially viable party is liable for the clean-up. Alberta has modified its statutory limitation periods to address this problem. Section 218 of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, RSA 2000, c. E-12 (EPEA) allows a court to extend a limitation period “where the basis for the proceeding is an alleged adverse effect resulting from the alleged release of a substance into the environment.” After years on the books, this is the first case to clarify the procedure courts should follow under section 218 of the EPEA.

Limitation Periods and the Subjective Element

By Colleen Ma

On February 28, 2013

In Limitations

PDF version: Limitation Periods and the Subjective Element

Case considered: Boyd v Cook, 2013 ABCA 27.

As my University of Calgary law professors repeat time after time, a missed limitation date is one of the few things you cannot fix as a lawyer. So, when I came across this recent Alberta Court of Appeal case, naturally I paid close attention. The underlying claim was an investment in an unsuccessful development project. Mr. Cook induced Mr. Boyd to invest in a mortgage company. The majority of the funds were used to invest in a development project that Mr. Boyd had flatly refused on several occasions to invest in. Mr. Boyd filed a Statement of Claim. Mr. Cook sought summary dismissal on limitation grounds. A Master dismissed the summary dismissal application (2012 ABQB 284), which was upheld by a chambers judge. It looked like the parties were going to trial. However, the Court of Appeal decided to allow the limitations defense.

When is a Lease Issued “In Lieu” of an Existing Lease?

By Nigel Bankes

On February 20, 2013

In Limitations, Oil & Gas

PDF version: When is a lease issued “in lieu” of an existing lease?

Case Commented In: Canadian Natural Resources Limited v Jensen Resources Ltd, 2012 ABQB 786

In the early 1980s the Government of Alberta decided to make a clearer distinction in its tenure regime between grants of conventional petroleum and natural gas (PNG) rights and grants of oil sands rights. In implementing this policy the province went so far as to redefine the rights contained in existing Crown PNG leases. But in return, it allowed the affected PNG lessees to apply for a form of oil sands tenure for the rights that had been excluded from the PNG leases. That’s what happened in this case and the issue was whether Jensen’s gross overriding royalty (GOR) which clearly applied to the PNG leases also carried over to the oil sands rights. Justice Jo’Anne Strekaf held that it did.

Category: Limitations

Extending Limitation Periods for Environmental Actions

Limitation Periods and the Subjective Element

When is a Lease Issued “In Lieu” of an Existing Lease?