Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al., (1984) 1 O.A.C. 279 (CA)

JudgeLacourcière, Cory and Tarnopolsky, JJ.A.
CourtCourt of Appeal (Ontario)
Case DateJanuary 31, 1984
JurisdictionOntario
Citations(1984), 1 O.A.C. 279 (CA)

Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Sparling (Director appointed under section 253 of the Canada Business Corporations Act) v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al.

Indexed As: Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al.

Ontario Court of Appeal

Lacourcière, Cory and Tarnopolsky, JJ.A.

January 31, 1984.

Summary:

The Director (under the Canada Business Corporations Act) commenced an action, against a company and its directors, for compensation on behalf of aggrieved shareholders. The Director alleged that the defendants failed to disclose material facts in a notice to shareholders respecting a take-over bid. The defendants applied to strike out the statement of claim. The motions court judge allowed the application and struck out most of the statement of claim. The Director appealed.

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and dismissed the application to strike out the statement of claim.

Company Law - Topic 7268

Fundamental changes and shareholders' rights - Actions by or on behalf of shareholders - Action by the Director (under the Canada Business Corporations Act), scope of authority - The Ontario Court of Appeal stated that s. 198 of the Canada Business Corporations Act authorized the Director to sue for compensation on behalf of aggrieved shareholders (see paragraph 23) - The court stated that such an action may be brought against both the corporation and its directors (see paragraphs 24 to 30) - The court stated that such an action is authorized notwithstanding the difficulties of a class action - See paragraphs 35 to 53.

Company Law - Topic 7270

Shareholders' rights - Action by Director (under Canada Business Corporations Act) on behalf of shareholders, practice - The Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that such an action could be commenced by means of an action rather than by way of an originating notice of motion - See paragraphs 10 & 32 to 34.

Company Law - Topic 7233

Shareholders' rights - Takeover or acquisition of control - Notice to shareholders of takeover bid - Material facts, what constitutes - The Ontario Court of Appeal referred to a test for determining when facts should be considered material - See paragraph 15.

Statutes - Topic 1415

Interpretation - Construction where meaning is not plain - Choice of meaning to attain purpose of statute - The Ontario Court of Appeal stated that an interpretation which gives effect to a remedy is preferable to one which seeks to restrict or eliminate a remedial provision in a statute - See paragraph 41.

Crown - Topic 8701

Actions by Crown to enforce statutes - Public class action (parens patriae) commenced by public official on behalf of individuals - The Ontario Court of Appeal referred to a legislative trend to provide for the parens patriae type of action to protect the public interest - See paragraphs 49 to 53.

Words and Phrases

Material facts - The Ontario Court of Appeal discussed the meaning of the words "material facts" as found in Regulation 68 of the Canada Business Corporations Act, 1980-81-82, c. C-47 - See paragraph 15.

Cases Noticed:

TSC Industries Inc. et al. v. Northway Inc., U.S.S.C., June 14, 1976, C.C.H. Federal Securities Law Reports 90,069, refd to. [para. 15].

Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. v. Campeau Corp. et al. (1980), 31 O.R.(2d) 75, refd to. [para. 16].

Naken et al. v. General Motors of Canada Ltd. et al. (1983), 46 N.R. 139; 144 D.L.R.(3d) 385, refd to. [para. 36].

Reynolds v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Company (1970), 309 F. Supp. 548, refd to. [para. 48].

Statutes Noticed:

Canada Business Corporations Act (Can.), 1980-81-82, c. C-47, sect. 198(3) [para. 19]; sect. 234(1), sect. 234(2), sect. 234(3) [para. 25].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Craies on Statute Law (7th Ed.), p. 177 [para. 39].

Counsel:

P. Genest, Q.C., for the appellant;

W.A. Kelly, Q.C., and R.D. Collins, for the respondent, Royal Trustco Limited;

D.K. Laidlaw, Q.C., for the individual respondents.

This appeal was heard by Lacourcière, Cory and Tarnopolsky, JJ.A., of the Ontario Court of Appeal on December 8, 1983.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal was delivered by Cory, J.A., and was released on January 31, 1984.

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18 practice notes
  • Sharbern Holding Inc. v. Vancouver Airport Centre Ltd. et al., (2011) 416 N.R. 1 (SCC)
    • Canada
    • Canada (Federal) Supreme Court (Canada)
    • 6 Octubre 2010
    ...40]. TSC Industries Inc. v. Northway Inc. (1976), 426 U.S. 438 (Sup. Ct.), consd. [para. 41]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537; 70 N.R. 203; 18 O.A.C. 156, refd to. [para. Universal Explorations Ltd. and Petrol O......
  • Sharbern Holding Inc. v. Vancouver Airport Centre Ltd. et al., (2011) 306 B.C.A.C. 1 (SCC)
    • Canada
    • Canada (Federal) Supreme Court (Canada)
    • 6 Octubre 2010
    ...40]. TSC Industries Inc. v. Northway Inc. (1976), 426 U.S. 438 (Sup. Ct.), consd. [para. 41]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537; 70 N.R. 203; 18 O.A.C. 156, refd to. [para. Universal Explorations Ltd. and Petrol O......
  • Budd v. Gentra Inc. et al., (1998) 111 O.A.C. 288 (CA)
    • Canada
    • Ontario Court of Appeal (Ontario)
    • 4 Agosto 1998
    ...Holdings Ltd. et al. (1995), 85 O.A.C. 29 ; 23 O.R.(3d) 481 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 33]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537 ; 70 N.R. 203 ; 18 O.A.C. 156 , refd to. [para. Ferguson v. Imax Systems Corp. (1......
  • Agbi et al. v. Geosimm Integrated Technologies Corp., (1998) 228 A.R. 134 (CA)
    • Canada
    • Court of Appeal (Alberta)
    • 8 Octubre 1998
    ...S.Ct. 2126, motion denied 97 S.Ct. Co., 48 L.Ed.(2d) 757 (U.S. Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 53]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537; 70 N.R. 203; 18 O.A.C. 156, refd to. [para. Pezim v. British Columbia Securities Co......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
18 cases
  • Sharbern Holding Inc. v. Vancouver Airport Centre Ltd. et al., (2011) 416 N.R. 1 (SCC)
    • Canada
    • Canada (Federal) Supreme Court (Canada)
    • 6 Octubre 2010
    ...40]. TSC Industries Inc. v. Northway Inc. (1976), 426 U.S. 438 (Sup. Ct.), consd. [para. 41]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537; 70 N.R. 203; 18 O.A.C. 156, refd to. [para. Universal Explorations Ltd. and Petrol O......
  • Sharbern Holding Inc. v. Vancouver Airport Centre Ltd. et al., (2011) 306 B.C.A.C. 1 (SCC)
    • Canada
    • Canada (Federal) Supreme Court (Canada)
    • 6 Octubre 2010
    ...40]. TSC Industries Inc. v. Northway Inc. (1976), 426 U.S. 438 (Sup. Ct.), consd. [para. 41]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537; 70 N.R. 203; 18 O.A.C. 156, refd to. [para. Universal Explorations Ltd. and Petrol O......
  • Budd v. Gentra Inc. et al., (1998) 111 O.A.C. 288 (CA)
    • Canada
    • Ontario Court of Appeal (Ontario)
    • 4 Agosto 1998
    ...Holdings Ltd. et al. (1995), 85 O.A.C. 29 ; 23 O.R.(3d) 481 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 33]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537 ; 70 N.R. 203 ; 18 O.A.C. 156 , refd to. [para. Ferguson v. Imax Systems Corp. (1......
  • Agbi et al. v. Geosimm Integrated Technologies Corp., (1998) 228 A.R. 134 (CA)
    • Canada
    • Court of Appeal (Alberta)
    • 8 Octubre 1998
    ...S.Ct. 2126, motion denied 97 S.Ct. Co., 48 L.Ed.(2d) 757 (U.S. Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 53]. Sparling v. Royal Trustco Ltd. et al. (1984), 1 O.A.C. 279; 6 D.L.R.(4th) 682 (C.A.), affd. [1986] 2 S.C.R. 537; 70 N.R. 203; 18 O.A.C. 156, refd to. [para. Pezim v. British Columbia Securities Co......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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