This case was heard in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division).

The numbered company 10565 Newfoundland Inc. owned a hotel property in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, not far from a federal air force base that had been in use since the 1940s. Oil contamination from the base had migrated onto the numbered company’s property, making it difficult for the company to expand its business as it wished. The company sued the Crown, but before the case was brought to trial a case-management judge resolved some contested issues between the parties.

The most important of these issues concerned the structure of the trial itself. Whereas the Attorney General of Canada had proposed that the trial should be divided into two parts—the first to determine whether the numbered company had actually suffered any compensable damages, and the second to determine whether the Crown was liable for any of those damages, if they did exist—the Court held that the issues were complex and interconnected, and could not be divided so neatly. Since there could be no guarantee that splitting the trial into two parts would benefit the parties or the justice system, the Court rejected the Attorney General’s proposal.

To read about the case when it came to trial, go to 10565 Nfld. Inc.. v. Canada (A.G.), 2015 CanLII 67624 (NL SCTD), 10565 Nfld. Inc. v. Canada (A.G.), 2015 CanLII 77563 (NL SCTD), and 10565 Nfld. Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2017 CanLII 25468 (NL SCTD).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlsctd/doc/2015/2015canlii13905/2015canlii13905.html

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