Jean Bélanger

The applicant Indian bands brought motions to vacate a unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada, alleging a reasonable apprehension of bias.

The allegation stemmed from the fact that the judge who authored the reasons had been the federal Associate Deputy Minister of Justice over 15 years prior, during the early stages of the litigation.

The Court dismissed the motions, finding that the judge's prior involvement was limited to a supervisory and administrative role, he had no recollection of the file, and a reasonable, right-minded person would not apprehend bias given the passage of time and the nature of his involvement.

The respondent commenced an action in Quebec claiming damages for loss of performance incentives and reputation after a satellite it helped manufacture was damaged during testing.

The appellants, all domiciled in the United States, brought declinatory motions challenging the jurisdiction of the Quebec courts under the Civil Code of Québec.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the Quebec courts had jurisdiction because the respondent suffered damage to its reputation at its Quebec facility.

The Court further held that the 'real and substantial connection' test is subsumed within the Code's provisions and that the appellants failed to establish that another forum was clearly more appropriate under the doctrine of forum non conveniens.