2011 January 11

Éditions Écosociété inc. v. Banro Corp., [2010] S.C.C.A. No. 311

The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to the defendants to appeal a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal which sustained a lower court decision holding (i) that there is a real and substantial connection between Ontario and the defamation claims brought by the plaintiff Banro Corporation and (ii) that Ontario is the appropriate forum to hear the claims. The plaintiff Banro is an Ontario company based in Toronto. The defamation claims concern a book which was published in Quebec and distributed to bookstores in Quebec, Ontario and other parts of Canada. The Internet is implicated because the book can be purchased on the Internet and is referred to on websites and in newspaper articles which can be accessed by persons in Ontario. In the court of Ontario, the defendants brought unsuccessful motions to stay the action on the basis there was no real and substantial connection to Ontario and that Ontario was not the convenient forum for the trial of the action. For more information about the facts, see the brief Court of Appeal decision: 2010 ONCA 416 and the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice: 23 February 2009, COURT FILE NO.: CV-08-00356266-0000. The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear this appeal on March 25, 2011.