Mark Ross and Eric Brousseau successfully resisted an application on the Commercial List where the applicant sought a de novo jurisdictional review under s. 17 of the Arbitration Act. Justice Cavanagh found that the broad language of the arbitration provision in the shareholders’ agreement put the dispute squarely in the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and dismissed the application.
The Court also held that the phrase “court of competent jurisdiction,” as used in the shareholders’ agreement, did not confer exclusive jurisdiction on the Superior Court of Justice. In doing so, Justice Cavanagh distinguished the decision in Allied Accounting v. Pacey as having been decided under the former Arbitration Act, and inapplicable to the current Arbitration Act, 1991.