Successful Appeal in Kilderry Holdings Ltd. v. Addwest Minerals Inc. et al [2013] BCCA 82
Does B.C. have jurisdiction over a dispute involving an investment by foreign parties in a foreign mine where the only connections to B.C. are that one of parties previously lived here and a corporation added to the case is the ultimate parent of the company that owned the mine?
On February 25, 2013, the B.C. Court of Appeal allowed the appeal with costs throughout in Kilderry Holdings Ltd. v. Addwest Minerals Inc. et al [2013] BCCA 82.
Robert D. Holmes, Q.C. was the successful counsel for the Appellants. The case involved overlapping and complex issues of court jurisdiction, shareholder rights and corporate law.
The Plaintiff claimed it had made loans and sought judgment for that and damages for an alleged bargain for bonus shares, all relating to a gold mine in Arizona. Initially, none of the parties were within British Columbia. At the trial court level, the Plaintiff applied to add a B.C. company related to some of the foreign parties in order to bolster its arguments for jurisdiction.
On appeal, the court held that insufficient and ruled that B.C. did not have territorial jurisdiction over the dispute.
The court added that the claims for damages only afforded a claim to the company in which the Plaintiff alleged it was a shareholder, not the Plaintiff itself.