Tom Friedland

The moving party sought to enforce interim minutes of settlement reached to resolve an earlier injunction motion regarding access to an industrial property to remove purchased equipment.

The responding party's lawyers were removed from the record at the start of the hearing, and the responding party's principal sought an adjournment, which was denied due to prejudice to the moving party.

The court found that the responding party had repudiated the settlement without a valid basis and that failing to enforce it would create a clear injustice.

The motion to enforce the settlement was granted.

The appellants appealed a motion judge's refusal to stay an Ontario action in favour of arbitration and forum selection clauses contained in an Additional Rights Agreement.

The dispute arose over the termination of the respondents' management rights following the sale of certain theatre assets.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, applying the competence-competence principle.

The Court held that where it is arguable that a dispute falls within the terms of an arbitration agreement, the court should grant a stay and leave the determination of the arbitrator's jurisdiction to the arbitrator.

The action was stayed pending the resolution of the arbitration proceedings in California.