Waksdale is safe: OCA refuses 5 panel bench in Dufault v Township of Ignace

Waksdale is safe: OCA refuses 5 panel bench in Dufault v Township of Ignace

In their Notice of Appeal, the Township asked the Ontario Court of Appeal to convene a panel of five judges because they wanted to overturn the seminal Ontario Court of Appeal case of Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391.

In a ruling from the Associate Chief Justice dated June 10, 2024, this request was refused. This means that the Court will not be able to overrule Waksdale, which means that the contract in the Dufault case will be declared invalid and the trial judgement will stand.

Here is the interesting point. The trial judge in Dufault also found on some new and novel grounds that the contract was invalid.

Will the Court of Appeal rule on whether these additional grounds are valid or will they decline to answer those new issues because it would not change the outcome?

In my opinion, most Courts do not like to decide important legal issues unless they have to. My bet is that they dismiss the appeal without commenting on the new and novel arguments.

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