Brian Beck

The parties entered into a joint venture for a golf course and residential development.

They reached a prior oral agreement regarding the dimensions of the land subject to a development option.

The appellant fraudulently drafted the written contract to reflect a much smaller parcel of land, and the respondent signed it without reading the specific clause.

When the respondent discovered the error, he sought rectification of the contract.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the trial judge's decision to grant rectification, finding that the respondent's lack of due diligence in reading the contract was not a bar to equitable relief, particularly given the appellant's fraud.

However, the Court declined to restore the trial judge's award of punitive damages, concluding that the substantial compensatory damages awarded were sufficient to achieve the goals of retribution, deterrence, and denunciation.

The representative plaintiffs and 229 other investors purchased debentures in Western Canadian Shopping Centres Inc. under the federal Business Immigration Program.

After the investment failed, the plaintiffs commenced a class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty by the defendants.

The defendants applied to strike the representative claim under Rule 42 of the Alberta Rules of Court.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the defendants' appeal, holding that the class action should be allowed to proceed as the class was capable of clear definition, there were common issues of law and fact, success for one meant success for all, and the representatives adequately represented the class.

The Court allowed the plaintiffs' cross-appeal, finding that individualized discovery of all class members was premature.