J. Levine

A hog supplier sought an order terminating the 30‑day period for an insolvent company to file a proposal under s. 50.4(11) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act or, alternatively, the appointment of a receiver over the debtor’s inventory under s. 101 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The moving party argued the debtor acted in bad faith by accepting livestock deliveries shortly before filing a notice of intention to make a proposal and that creditors would be prejudiced because farmers would otherwise be unable to claim the statutory priority for agricultural suppliers under BIA s. 81.2.

The court held the evidence did not establish lack of good faith, inability to make a viable proposal, inability to obtain creditor approval, or material prejudice to creditors as a whole.

The court further held it would be inappropriate to appoint a receiver solely to trigger the statutory farmer priority scheme where Parliament had chosen not to extend that priority to NOI proceedings.

The moving party sought an order transferring an action from Newmarket to Toronto and assigning it to be heard with related proceedings arising from a large construction project.

The responding party challenged the jurisdiction of a master to order a change of venue and opposed the transfer.

The court held that Rule 13.1.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure confers jurisdiction on a master to order a venue transfer, distinguishing authority concerning consolidation and stays under s. 107 of the Courts of Justice Act.

Applying the Rule 13.1.02(2)(b) factors, the court found that the events, subject matter, and related litigation were centred in Toronto and that transferring the matter would promote efficiency and avoid inconsistent findings.

The motion for adjournment was denied and the venue transfer ordered, while requests to have the action tried with other proceedings or referred to the master for trial were adjourned to be determined by a judge.