A. Donaldson

The applicant and respondent, two brothers, co-owned a poultry farm business.

Following a breakdown in their relationship, they entered into a consent order detailing a process for the applicant to sell his shares to the respondent, or alternatively, for the corporation's assets to be sold to third parties.

The applicant brought an application to enforce the order, arguing the respondent failed to purchase the shares in time and seeking to proceed with third-party asset sales.

The respondent brought a cross-application seeking to purchase the assets instead of the shares.

The court held that the consent order clearly contemplated a share sale, not an asset sale, and that the respondent failed to exercise his right of first refusal in accordance with the order.

The applicant was authorized to proceed with the third-party asset sales, with the net proceeds to be divided equally.

The respondent in an ongoing shareholder dispute brought a motion requesting that the presiding judge recuse himself on the basis of a reasonable apprehension of bias.

The moving party alleged that the judge's comments during a previous hearing regarding his illiteracy demonstrated prejudgment and ableism.

The court dismissed the recusal motion, finding that the comments were inquiries into the moving party's ability to complete complex commercial transactions and did not meet the objective test for a reasonable apprehension of bias.

The court granted leave to file new evidence regarding an updated agreement of purchase and sale.