Articles

The deadline for contesting the new assessment of properties located in one of the municipalities having filed a triennial assessment roll for 2019-2020-2021 is fast approaching.

In a unanimous decision rendered on December 4, 2018, the Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal filed by the City of Dollard-des-Ormeaux (“DDO”) of a judgment rendered by Superior Court Justice Pepita G. Capriolo on July 19, 2016.

In this matter, DDO had sold a parcel of land to 4164717 Canada Inc. (“Canada Inc.”) on the condition that it build a real estate project as outlined in the sale contract. Following a six-day trial, the judge concluded that through its conduct, which she considered to have been in bad faith, DDO effectively prevented Canada Inc. from performing the project.

The judge accordingly declared the sale contract dissolved and ordered DDO to reimburse the sale price to Canada Inc., as well as the municipal taxes it had paid since the sale. She also acknowledged Canada Inc.’s right to claim damages from DDO.

On February 28, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision solidarily ordering a lawyer, his firm and two fraudsters to pay nearly seven million dollars in damages. This case is a potent reminder to professionals to respect the limits of their mandates and always act in their clients’ best interests.

Currently, the categories of cannabis that can be legally sold by holders of a federal licence and by distributors and retailers authorized by a province or territory are dried cannabis, fresh cannabis, cannabis oil, cannabis plants, and the seeds of cannabis plants. However, the federal government recently confirmed its intention to amend the Cannabis Act in order to authorize the sale of three new categories of cannabis products.

Overview of the first week of special consultations and public hearings on Bill 2: An Act to tighten the regulation of cannabis

The Quebec government is currently conducting special consultations and public hearings on Bill 2: An Act to tighten the regulation of cannabis, and Langlois lawyers is following the proceedings closely. The main purposes of the draft legislation are to increase the legal age for the consumption, possession and purchase of cannabis to 21, and to prohibit consumption in public places.

On January 31, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada decided, in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Ltd., that a provincial regulator, in this case the Alberta Energy Regulator (the “AER”), can enforce end-of-life obligations with respect to oil wells, pipelines and other provincially regulated facilities belonging to a bankrupt company or its trustee in bankruptcy, even if the enforcement orders adversely affect the assets in the bankrupt’s estate and its secured creditors.