Case information

Appeals — Leave to Appeal — Arbitration — Reconsideration of prior decisions — Whether provincial and territorial courts of appeal should be guided by MacDonald v. City of Montreal, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 460, rather than Ernewein v. Minister of Employment and Immigration, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 639, when deciding jurisdiction to review leave to appeal decisions of lower courts — What is the correct interpretation of the statutory test for leave to appeal an arbitration award under the Arbitration Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. A-43, and its counterparts in other provinces — How should courts balance legislative policy of non-intervention in arbitration against legislative intent that the courts supervise arbitrators’ determinations of questions of law — Is demonstrating arguable merit always an element of the test for leave to appeal and, if so, what standard of review is used to assess arguable merit?

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

719491 Alberta Inc. leases land from The Canada Life Assurance Company. They disagreed regarding the rent due under the lease and proceeded to arbitration. The arbitrator issued a decision. 719491 Alberta Inc. applied to the Court of Queen’s Bench for leave to appeal or to have the arbitration award set aside and remanded for reconsideration. The Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed the application. The Court of Appeal denied leave to appeal and denied an application to seek review of a decision previously rendered in Sherwin Williams v. Walls Alive (Edmonton) Ltd., 2003 ABCA 191.