Case information

Civil procedure ? Appeal ? Motion to dismiss originating application for declaratory judgment ? Whether Court of Appeal erred in law in ruling on merits of case in context of application to dismiss appeal ? Whether Court of Appeal erred in law in agreeing with trial judge’s conclusions and in finding, based on fact that there was another action in Court of Québec concerning penalties claimed by ACQ, that trial judge had not erred, despite fact that objective of litigation was declaratory judgment and that issues submitted had broader objective and went beyond scope of dispute concerning penalties ? Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C 25.01, art. 168 para. 2.

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The respondents, Association de la construction du Québec, Corporation of Master Pipe Mechanics of Québec, Corporation of Master Electricians of Québec and Bureau des soumissions déposées du Québec (“BSDQ”) (collectively referred to as “ACQ”), are non profit bodies whose functions include ensuring compliance with the rules in the BSDQ’s Code de soumission (“Code”), the purpose of which is to improve competition in the construction industry. Any contractor that wishes to participate in a bid process governed by the BSDQ must undertake by contract to comply with the Code. The applicants, Blenda Construction Inc. and Edica Group Inc., made such an undertaking. In January 2020, the ACQ’s professional practice and discipline committee rendered four decisions in which it found that the applicants had contravened the Code. In February 2020, the applicants were notified by letter of the committee’s findings and of the claim against them for $56,600 in penalties. They appealed to the ACQ’s discipline appeal board, which upheld the findings and the resulting claim for penalties. After receiving the May 2020 letter setting out the appeal board’s ruling, the applicants decided to contest the decisions by filing an application for a declaratory judgment in the Superior Court. In response, the ACQ applied to dismiss that application. At the same time, in August 2020, the ACQ filed an originating application against the applicants in the Court of Québec in order to claim payment of the penalties. The applicants responded by applying for a stay of proceedings until final judgment had been rendered on the application to dismiss in the proceeding brought in the Superior Court. The Superior Court allowed the application to dismiss and dismissed the originating application for a declaratory judgment. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.