The appellant company, through the Ontario Securities Commission, commenced an action against its directors and officers for alleged insider trading under the Ontario Securities Act.
The defendants argued that the provincial insider trading provisions were inoperative due to the doctrine of paramountcy, as they duplicated provisions in the federal Canada Corporations Act.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that both the federal and provincial provisions were intra vires under the double aspect doctrine.
The Court further held that the provincial provisions were not rendered inoperative by paramountcy, as mere duplication without actual conflict or contradiction does not invoke the doctrine.
