Paul Guy

The plaintiff brought a motion for leave to commence a secondary market securities class action under Part XXIII.1 of the Securities Act against Akumin Inc., its directors and officers, and its auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, and for certification of the action under the Class Proceedings Act.

The claims arose from alleged misrepresentations in Akumin's financial statements that were later restated.

The court granted leave against the Akumin defendants, finding a reasonable possibility of success at trial regarding the alleged misrepresentations and public corrections.

However, the court denied leave against the auditor, EY, finding insufficient evidence that the auditor's statements were material or publicly corrected.

The court certified the action as a global class proceeding against the Akumin defendants, rejecting arguments to exclude American purchasers from the class.

Three law firms brought competing carriage motions to represent a class of shareholders of Canopy Growth Corporation in a securities misrepresentation class action.

The court evaluated the competing claims under s. 13.1(4) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The court granted carriage to the Dziedziejko action, finding that its longer class period, which included thousands of additional shareholders based on prior financial misrepresentations, better served the goals of access to justice and behaviour modification without sacrificing efficiency.

The competing Leonard and Twidale actions were stayed.

Two competing teams of legal counsel sought carriage of a proposed securities class action against CannTrust Holdings Inc. and other defendants for alleged misrepresentations regarding unlicensed cannabis production.

The court granted carriage to the Consortium team, finding that the competing TGF/RG team had a disqualifying conflict of interest because they excluded RBC Dominion Securities Inc., a current client of one of the firms, as a defendant.

The court held that excluding a necessary defendant to prefer a client's interests prejudiced the proposed class members by reducing potential recovery.

Following an omnibus motion in a secondary market securities class action, the defendants sought costs payable forthwith.

The plaintiffs and one co-defendant argued for costs in the cause.

The court ordered costs in the cause, noting that the omnibus motion involved novel legal issues and was part of the fabric of the whole litigation, making it fairest that the ultimate victor in the action receive the costs.

Following a prior decision granting summary judgment and dismissing the plaintiff’s action as statute‑barred under the Limitations Act, the court determined the appropriate costs award.

The successful defendants sought approximately $75,000 on a substantial indemnity basis, while the plaintiff argued that $30,000 on a partial indemnity basis was reasonable.

The court held that substantial indemnity was not justified because the plaintiff had not engaged in improper, vexatious, or unnecessary conduct and the procedural steps taken were pursuant to court orders.

Applying the principles in Boucher v. Public Accountants Council of Ontario and the factors under Rule 57.01(1), the court fixed costs at $35,000 on a partial indemnity basis.

The defendants brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's action for a trading loss caused by a botched share transfer, arguing it was statute-barred.

The plaintiff argued the claim was not discovered until 2010 when new information was disclosed.

The court found the plaintiff knew enough material facts by April 2007 to commence a legal proceeding.

Even accounting for a nine-month tolling period during an Ombudsman investigation, the action commenced in November 2011 was well beyond the two-year limitation period.

The motion for summary judgment was granted and the action dismissed.