The appellants, farmers in financial difficulty, obtained a stay of proceedings under the federal Farm Debt Review Act.
While the stay was in effect, the respondent creditor obtained an order granting leave to commence foreclosure proceedings under the provincial Family Farm Protection Act.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the leave application under the provincial Act was a proceeding prohibited by the federal stay.
The operational incompatibility between the two statutes triggered the doctrine of federal paramountcy, rendering the provincial leave order invalid and a nullity.
