28/05/2021 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 74 published on 01/03/2021
Appeal allowed. Dispute subject to mandatory arbitration
This is a dispute between parties relating to a Reciprocal Agreement dealing with shared facilities. The lower Court determined that the dispute was not subject to mandatory arbitration, and ordered that the dispute should be resolved by Court process.
The lower Court decision was overturned on appeal. The Court of Appeal said:
The dispute as it exists between the respondent in appeal and TSCC 1636 is clearly covered by the very broad language of the arbitration clause, that is, “any dispute that may arise under this Agreement”.
The Court of Appeal also said that the arbitrator could deal with the oppression claim asserted by one of the parties. The Court of Appeal said:
The language of s. 135(1) (dealing with claims for oppression) is permissive, not mandatory. It contemplates that, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to have resort to the Superior Court of Justice to obtain relief. However, s. 135(1) does not oust the jurisdiction of an arbitrator to consider the same relief, if that relief is part of the dispute in question that properly falls within the terms of the arbitration provision or within the terms of s. 132. In this case, we have already noted the broad language of the arbitration clause. There is nothing, in our view, that would preclude an arbitrator, acting under the authority of that arbitration clause, from considering the alleged oppressive conduct advanced by the respondent in appeal, at least as it relates to the actions of TSCC 1636.