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Customer of bankrupt securities firm allowed to claim post-bankruptcy losses against general fund for vested contracts.
The applicant, a customer of a bankrupt securities firm, sought to establish a claim against the bankrupt estate's general fund for post-bankruptcy increases in the value of liquidated foreign futures contracts.
The court held that while Part XII of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act does not preclude a customer from making a claim against the general fund as an ordinary creditor, the applicant only had a provable claim for contracts that vested in the trustee on the date of bankruptcy, not for those liquidated prior to bankruptcy due to subagent insolvency.
The court also dismissed the applicant's request for an equitable priority over other general creditors.
Publication bans require necessity and proportionality.
The appeal concerned a media challenge to a publication ban obtained in criminal proceedings to stop the broadcast of a fictional television mini-series said to risk prejudicing pending jury trials involving allegations of abuse in religious institutions.
The Court held that discretionary publication bans must be assessed in accordance with Charter values and reformulated the common law test to require necessity, the absence of reasonably available alternative measures, and proportional balancing between trial fairness and freedom of expression.
The Court also addressed the proper procedural routes for third-party challenges to publication bans imposed by provincial and superior court judges.
Applying the new framework, the Court concluded the ban was overbroad and unjustified because reasonable alternatives were available.
The appeal was allowed and the publication ban order was set aside.
