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Michael Nowina

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Both of Canada’s primary insolvency statutes, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”) provide for an automatic stay of all legal proceedings when an insolvent debtor files for or seeks insolvency protection. The purpose of the stay is to provide breathing space to a debtor attempting to restructure its business so as to avoid “death by a thousand cuts” and also to ensure similarly situated creditors are treated equally. While it is an integral part of Canada’s insolvency regime, the stay of proceedings is not inviolable and there have been a number of noteworthy cases where Canadian courts have considered whether to lift the statutory stay and permit proposed class actions to proceed where the plaintiff has alleged fraud.

CANADA – Privacy and data breach class actions are on the rise in many jurisdictions that allow class action litigation, and Canada is no exception. Ontario’s highest appellate court recently ruled on a case involving 280 patients’ records that were improperly accessed and disclosed at an Ontario hospital. The Court affirmed a lower court decision that the representative plaintiff could seek certification of a class action based on the tort of intrusion upon seclusion. This tort…