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Contracts

Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Journal

Supreme Court of Canada

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Law

Death To Semelhago!, Bruce Ziff Apr 2016

Death To Semelhago!, Bruce Ziff

Dalhousie Law Journal

In the 1996 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Semelhago v. Paramadevan, Justice John Sopinka stated that it is no longer appropriate to assume that specific performance will issue as a matter of course to enforce a contract for the sale of land. Before performance will be ordered, it must be proven (and not assumed) that common law damages for breach of contract will not suffice to do justice. In this article, Semel hago and the case law generated in its aftermath will be reviewed, and the policy arguments pertaining to the current law addressed. In short, it …


Assessing Exclusion Clauses: The Supreme Court Of Canada's Three Issue Framework In Tercon Contractors Ltd V British Columbia (Transportation And Highways), Shannon O'Byrne Apr 2012

Assessing Exclusion Clauses: The Supreme Court Of Canada's Three Issue Framework In Tercon Contractors Ltd V British Columbia (Transportation And Highways), Shannon O'Byrne

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Supreme Court of Canada's 2010 decision in Tercon Contractors Ltd v British Columbia (Transportation and Highways) concerned the enforceability of a broadly drafted exclusion clause in the context of public procurement tendering. It is noteworthy for several reasons. First, the decision unanimously articulated a three-issue framework for determining the enforceability of exclusion clauses. Second, and on a more theoretical front, Tercon offered competing visions as to how contracts are to be interpreted. Though the Supreme Court was unanimous that parties to a contract should-of course-generally be bound by its terms, the majority and dissent followed significantly different paths for …


The Origins Of A Coming Crisis: Renewal Of The Churchill Falls Contract, James P. Feehan, Melvin Baker Apr 2007

The Origins Of A Coming Crisis: Renewal Of The Churchill Falls Contract, James P. Feehan, Melvin Baker

Dalhousie Law Journal

The 1969 Churchill Falls contract between Hydro-Quebec and the Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation has been the subject of political controversy. It has also been challenged in the courts, with appeals reaching to the Supreme Court of Canada. Yet, despite the scrutiny of those court cases, the political rhetoric, and the literature that has been spawned by this matter, an extraordinary element of that contract remains remarkably obscure. It is the contract's renewal clause. At the expiry of the contract's forty-four-year term in 2016, that clause requires an automatic renewal for twenty-five additional years at a fixed nominal price that is …


Conflict Of Interest, Duress And Unconscionability In Quebec Civil Law: Comment On "The Origins Of A Coming Crisis: Renewal Of The'churchill Falls Contract", Sarah P. Bradley Apr 2007

Conflict Of Interest, Duress And Unconscionability In Quebec Civil Law: Comment On "The Origins Of A Coming Crisis: Renewal Of The'churchill Falls Contract", Sarah P. Bradley

Dalhousie Law Journal

As Professor James Feehan and archivist-historian Melvin Baker describe the circumstances in which the fateful renewal provision of the 1969 Churchill Falls hydro contract was negotiated, they suggest that the legal doctrines of conflict of interest or economic duress might offer a basis upon which the contract, or perhaps the renewal provision, could be impugned. In addition to interesting historical insights, their analysis offers the intriguing possibility that the government of Newfoundland may yet succeed in its long-standing battle to rid itself of its obligations under the grossly disadvantageous Churchill Falls contract.


The Law Of Options, Keith Evans Apr 2002

The Law Of Options, Keith Evans

Dalhousie Law Journal

Little attention is devoted to the law of options in major Canadian texts on contract law or in periodical literature. One might, therefore, assume that the law in this area is well settled and that few major cases come before the courts. However, a review of appellate decisions in Canada indicates significant judicial interest in the topic which would challenge those assumptions. In fact, appellate courts in various common law jurisdictions continue to struggle with many doctrinal issues related to this specialized type of contract. This article provides a comprehensive review of the law of options in Canada, and identifies …


Morguard Investments Limited: Reforming Federalism From The Top, Peter Finkle, Simon Coakeley Oct 1991

Morguard Investments Limited: Reforming Federalism From The Top, Peter Finkle, Simon Coakeley

Dalhousie Law Journal

Nations are not only unified markets, but usually they are at least that. In most discussions about national unity, adequate account is taken of the importance of the free movement of goods, capital and people. Rarely, though, does the discussion encompass the necessity of legally assuring such movement in the domestic marketplace through the practical modality of secure remedies for breaches of obligations in contracts and tort. De Savoye v. Morguard Investments Ltd is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that considers the extent of jurisdiction that provincial courts may exercise and the associated concern with the …