Supreme Court Denies Leave To Appeal From Precedential Court Of Appeal Franchise Decision

On February 2, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada denied General Motors Company leave to appeal from a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal which allowed GTA GM dealers to proceed to trial with their claim that the American parent of General Motors Canada is a franchisor’s associate under the Arthur Wishart Act by virtue of its control over the Canadian dealer network and the GTA in particular. The novel claim had been struck out by the Superior Court on the basis that the American parent was not a party to the written franchise agreement between the dealers and General Motors Canada. The Court of Appeal held that the dealers claim was tenable, raised important issues of precedential value and should proceed to trial. The dealers are represented by Jonathan Lisus, Rocco DiPucchio and James Renihan. The Court of Appeal decision can be found here: http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2016/2016onca324/2016onca324.html?autocompleteStr=addison%20chevrolet&autocompletePos=3 and the Supreme Court dismissal: http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc-l/doc/2017/2017canlii4177/2017canlii4177.html