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National Trust
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For more information call us at 1.800.451.3225 |
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Legal Update - December 11, 2000
Information From Court
You may recall, from previous correspondence and information provided on this
website, AFTER was granted intervenor status in the appeal by The Ontario
Superintendent of Pensions to the Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court -
Ontario), in the Monsanto case. The appeal was heard by a panel of three
judges, at Osgoode Hall law courts in Toronto, over three days from November
21st to 23rd, 2000.
A total of nine lawyers were present on behalf of the following groups:
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Monsanto Canada Inc. - Applicant (Respondent in Appeal) represented by Borden
Ladner Gervais LLP {"BLG"} *.
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Superintendent of Financial Services (FSCO) - Respondent (Appellant in Appeal)
represented by Office of Attorney General of Ontario.
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The Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) - Respondents (Appellants
in Appeal) represented by Blake Cassels & Graydon {BCG"}.
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Robert M. Smallhorn, Dexter G. Halsall & Stuart J. Galbraith - Intervenors
(on behalf of AFTER) represented by Koskie Minsky.
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National Trust Company (now The Bank of Nova Scotia &/or Scotiabank) -
Intervenor represented by Osler Hoskin & Harcourt {"OHH"} *.
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Note:- To avoid a conflict, BLG, Scotiabank's original counsel, was replaced by
OHH since BLG was Monsanto's counsel.
Representatives of AFTER were present on all three court days as observers. We
wish to report that the appeal provided us the opportunity to have the facts of
our major issues with Scotiabank presented before the Court in this
precedent-setting process.
The panel of judges (Justices Gravely, Matlow & Marchand), reserved their
decision. We are hopeful a decision will be released before Christmas, however,
we appreciate the judges must have the time they require to review the
substantial volume of written and verbal submissions. A decision by the end of
January, 2001 is more realistic.
Whatever the decision may be, we can say that it is likely to be further
appealed to The Appeal Court of Ontario, and potentially to The Supreme Court
of Canada, the highest court in the land. Both of these appeal courts would
only hear this case "with leave", which they may not grant.
We sincerely hope Scotiabank, which as you know earned record profits of $1.93
billion for their fiscal year ending October 31, 2000, will wish to address our
concerns before that happens. After all, another year has almost passed, and
the Bank's annual shareholders' meeting in Halifax will be an excellent forum
to again raise our point.
We will continue to provide updates as developments occur. Meanwhile, we extend
warmest Holiday Greetings to you all!
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