Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Ontario (Superintendent of Financial Services)

[Indexed as: Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Ontario (Superintendent of Financial Services)]

75 O.R. (3d) 479

Court of Appeal for Ontario

McLachlin C.J.C., Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache, Binnie, Deschamps and Fish JJ

July 29, 2004

Administrative law -- Judicial review -- Standard of review -- Financial Services Tribunal's interpretation of provisions of Pension Benefits [page480] Act failing to meet reasonableness standard -- Pension Benefits Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.8, s. 70(5), (6).

Pensions -- Pension plan -- Surplus -- Partial wind up -- Partial wind up of defined benefit pension plan -- Judicial review -- Standard of review -- Financial Services Tribunal's interpretation of provisions of Pension Benefits Act failing to meet reasonableness standard -- Doctrine of reasonable expectations not applying -- Pensions Benefits Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.8, s. 70(5), (6).

Pensions -- Pension plan -- Surplus -- Partial wind up -- Partial wind up of defined benefit pension plan -- Employer obliged to distribute that part of actuarial surplus then in plan that is attributable to members of plan who are affected by partial wind up -- Pension Benefits Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.8, s. 70(5), (6).

Freya Kristjanson and Markus Kremer, for appellant Monsanto Canada Inc.

Jeffrey W. Galway and Randy Bauslaugh, for appellant the Association of Canadian Pension Management.

Deborah McPhail and Leslie McIntosh, for respondent Superintendent of Financial Services.

Donald J. Rennie and Kirk Lambrecht, Q.C., for intervenor the Attorney General of Canada.

J. Brett Ledger and Lindsay P. Hill, for intervenor the National Trust Company.

William J. Sammon, for intervenor Nicole Lacroix.

Howard Goldblatt, Dona Campbell and Ethan Poskanzer, for intervenors the Canadian Labour Congress and the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Mark Zigler and Ari N. Kaplan, for intervenors R.M. Smallhorn, D.G. Halsall, S.J. Galbraith and S.W. (Bud) Wesley.

NOTE: The catchlines above relate to a decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario (Laskin, Goudge and Armstrong JJ.A.), reported at 2002 17842 (ON CA), 62 O.R. (3d) 305. An appeal of this judgment to the Supreme Court of Canada (McLachlin C.J.C., Iacobucci, Major, Bastarache, Binnie, Deschamps and Fish JJ.) was dismissed on July 29, 2004 ([2004] S.C.J. No. 51, 2004 SCC 54).