Ian Aversa

The Court-appointed Receiver brought a motion to compel the principal of the Receivership Respondents to release approximately 11,271 emails.

The principal opposed the motion, claiming solicitor-client privilege.

The court held that the emails belonged to the corporate entities, not the principal personally, and that the Receiver was authorized under the Receivership Order to investigate the entities' affairs, which included reviewing the emails.

The motion was granted and the principal was ordered to release the emails.

The Receiver of a bankrupt masonry contractor sought directions to distribute remaining funds to a secured creditor.

A subcontractor opposed the distribution, arguing the funds were subject to a deemed trust under the Construction Lien Act and excluded from the bankruptcy estate.

The court found that the funds did not meet the certainty of subject matter required for a trust under general trust principles, as all funds were commingled in a single account.

The court ordered the funds distributed to the secured creditor.

Minatura brought a motion to remove Aburi Goldfields Ghana Ltd. from the CCAA proceedings of the applicants, arguing lack of disclosure, that Aburi was not a debtor, and that the dispute over control of Aburi should be litigated in Ghana.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that Aburi was a debtor, that there was no material non-disclosure, and that staying the CCAA proceedings would likely cause the restructuring to fail.

Applying the Van Breda framework and giving weight to a forum selection clause in the parties' shareholders' agreement, the court held that Ontario had jurisdiction and that Minatura failed to establish that Ghana was a more appropriate forum.