The appellant, representing minority shareholders of Asbestos Corp., sought an order from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) under s. 127 of the Securities Act to remove the trading exemptions of the Quebec Government and its Crown corporation after they acquired control of Asbestos Corp. without making a follow-up offer to minority shareholders.
The OSC declined to exercise its public interest jurisdiction, finding insufficient transactional connection to Ontario and no intention to avoid Ontario law.
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the OSC's decision, ruling that the standard of review is reasonableness and that the OSC properly exercised its preventive, non-remedial discretion based on relevant factors.
