Trade/commercial law case brief

Subject and Section Professor’s Name Date Title Case Name: Morguard Investments Ltd v. De Savoye Citation: [1990] 3 SCR 1077 Court: Supreme Court of Canada Date: 13 December 1990 Facts: Morguard Investments Ltd., in this case, referred to as "Morguard," was a real estate investment company located in British Columbia. The company had a mortgage agreement with De Savoye, an individual who is a resident of Alberta. De Savoye breached his duties regarding the payments on the mortgage, and Morguard went on to seek enforcement of the mortgage in Alberta. De Savoye was taken to court in Alberta, and a judgment was made against him, but he moved to British Columbia. Morguard sought to have the Alberta judgment registered for enforcement in British Columbia. However, De Savoye raised several valid defenses, including that the Alberta court had no jurisdiction over him as he was not present in Alberta when the action was started. Counter to De Savoye’s jurisdictional argument, Morguard stated that there is sufficient connection between the defendant and Alberta for the Alberta court to exercise jurisdiction. The main concern was whether a judgment made in one court of a particular province could be implemented in another province by an individual who had yet to appear in the province where the judgment was made personally. Morguard pointed out the relations between the legal systems of the provinces in Canada and stressed the need for the Canadian courts to change the approach to jurisdiction and enforcement of the judgment of th...