Law Times

Law Times • February 3, 2014 Page 7 www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT Byelection results a key barometer of political winds t's all a question of timing. Premier Kathleen Wynne has yet to win an electoral mandate but she's wait- ing until the timing is just right. So for the last year we've seen the NDP extract the price of its support by getting many of the issues on that party's agenda incorpo- rated as government policy. e costs to NDP Leader Andrea Hor- wath are still unclear. Some people see it as a smart move to get a hand on the tiller and achieve results while others fear the party will suff er for prolonging the life of a failed regime. Technically, though, with NDP sup- port the Liberals could hang on until October 2015 and maybe Wynne's back- room analysts think everything from the gas plants to eHealth Ontario will have blown over by then. It's also possible they're telling her this is the only shot the Liberals will have at power for another decade and to therefore hang on tight until the opposition pries power from their cold dead hands. On Feb. 13, we're going to get at least a glimpse of what's in store in two byelec- tions. One of them is in ornhill, Ont., to replace Tory MPP Peter Shurman follow- ing his resignation in the wake of a public humiliation by Leader Tim Hudak over his residency expenses. e other is in Ni- agara Falls, Ont., where Liberal MPP Kim Craitor has stepped down. Will Wynne get a Valentine from the voters or an arrow through her hopes? Whichever way the results swing, they won't do much to change the balance of power in the legislature with the Liberals at 49 seats, the Tories at 36, and the NDP at 20. With an election widely expected this spring or early summer, the question is why bother with the eff ort and $1-million ex- pense when we're just going to repeat it all a few months down the road. at's not to mention the $100 million in election promises Wynne has already made to sugar-coat voters' choices. is is where it gets interest- ing and several commentators have picked up on the outside possibility that Wynne could indeed cling to power until 2015. e collective speculation is that the byelections are a dry run as the Liberals test the waters at little risk. If it goes badly for Wynne, it'll be no surprise since the prevailing wisdom is that governments rarely win byelections. If Horwath picks up a seat, then it's clear which way the wind is blowing. My former colleague Rob Benzie of the Toronto Star noted in his column recently that the outcome would heavily infl uence the budget this spring. He's right. If the Liberals feel the electorate is in a forgiving mood, they may press ahead by off ering the sun, the moon, and the stars in an eff ort to buy votes and we may see promises to bump the minimum wage higher than the $11 an hour already an- nounced with perhaps a phased-in plan to boost it to $14 over three years if they win the election. ere will be pledges of more transit spending and the promise of an Ontario pension plan paid for with payroll levies. Transit expansion would come with in- creased parking, gas, and licence taxes, all of which are notions the NDP has already said it won't support. If the results are a wash, the Liberals will again woo the NDP and make a deal or two to extend their reign. Either way, the pressure for more spending in the budget is palpable even though the fi scal reality also seems set in concrete. For a government that thought nothing of cancelling two gas plants to save seats and ensure it clung to power, how- ever, these aren't real limitations and Wyn- ne has already said political dogma will trump fi scal sanity even at the expense of a balanced budget by 2017. All of this makes for a fascinating case study from the perspective of pure political science. Wynne's predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, held power more by default than his inspirational leadership style. He took over in 2003 as a relief from the austerity of his predecessor, Mike Harris, and in 2007 he won against the odds when then-Conservative lead- er John Tory's campaign foundered over promises on funding faith-based schools. In 2011, Hudak just couldn't get voters to warm up to him, a situation that left McGuinty in office for lack of a better choice. With no clear choice on the table, there are some true believers who still think Wynne can pull this one out of the fi re. e scary part is that taxpayers will end up paying the tab for her gamble whether they elect her or not because so much of that spending is already on the table. LT Ian Harvey has been a journalist for more than 35 years writing about a diverse range of issues including legal and political aff airs. His e-mail address is ianharvey@rogers. com. Toronto grows in prominence as a commercial arbitration centre here are four cities in Canada where the majority of commercial arbitrations are sited: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. e four cities all compete for commercial arbitra- tion business, not only with each other but also with other international centres for the burgeoning world of commercial arbitration, including London, Eng- land, Paris, New York, Singapore, and such far-fl ung locations as Mauritius. Toronto, however, continues to become more prominent in the world of commercial arbitration for a number of reasons. A 2012 survey by Charles River Associates com- missioned by Arbitration Place concluded that there were about 425 commercial arbitrations annually in Toronto. e survey analyzed the signifi cant economic benefi ts the activity brought to Toronto. A number of factors contribute to this level of activ- ity. ey include Toronto's position as the fi nancial cap- ital of Canada, its size and diversity, the number of cor- porate head offi ces located here, its central location, and the quality of its international airports. Factors specifi c to commercial arbitration include the large cadre of ex- perienced commercial arbitrators based in Toronto and the existence of many law fi rms and counsel with ex- perience in commercial arbitration, both domestic and international. is concentration of commercial arbi- tration talent led to the establishment of several arbitra- tion chambers that house both arbitrators and excellent arbitration facilities. ey include ADR Chambers, Arbitration Place, JAMS, and Neeson Chambers, as well as the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society with its 200 members encompassing both commercial arbitra- tion counsel and arbitrators. Several factors have led to the increase in the level of commercial arbitration in Canada. Corporations en- gaged in international trade do not wish to be subject to the courts of one of the parties and therefore include arbitration clauses in their agreements so as to ensure a neutral forum and adjudicator. Canada's proximity to the Americas, Europe, and Asia makes it particu- larly well situated to provide such a forum. While the majority of international arbitrations take place in the other jurisdictions mentioned, Toronto and Canada's advantages and expertise are becoming better known internationally. Canada's recent ratifi cation of the Con- vention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes be- tween States and Nationals of Other States is a welcome development. Domestically and particularly in Toronto, the delays and expense of the civil litigation system, combined with the lack of case management and the judicial lottery in the selection of the judge to hear the trial, have led to the ever- increasing use of commercial arbitration by sophisticated commercial parties, o en even in the absence of an arbi- tration clause in the commercial agreement. Complementing this trend and indeed essential to it, especially internationally, is the recognized excel- lence of the Canadian and Ontario judicial systems, our arbitration-friendly jurisprudence, and, in To- ronto, the existence of the commercial court that pro- vides speedy resolution of arbitration-related disputes. Canada is a signatory to the New York Convention and international commercial arbitration legislation importing the United Nations Commission on Inter- national Trade Law model law and rules for inter- national commercial disputes exists throughout Can- ada. All of this enforces Canada's in ternational reputation as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. Toronto holds many advantages for those en- gaged in commercial arbitration from elsewhere in Canada or abroad. Its international airports have direct fl ights from the major cities of the world, including New York, Washington, Paris, and London, as well as many cities in Asia and South America. Can- ada provides easier entry for many foreign visitors than does the United States. Toronto also has a vibrant and safe downtown and fi nancial district that provide fi rst-class hotels, restaurants, shopping, sports, and entertainment and at far more reasonable cost than its international competition. Canada is offi cially bilingual and Toronto is among the most multicultural and diverse cities in the world with all of the advantages that has for international visitors. While Toronto is the busiest commercial arbitration centre in Canada, the competition between it and other Canadian cities is tempered in that they are all compet- ing with the many other places looking for commercial arbitration business. Canadian counsel and arbitrators regularly take part in arbitrations throughout Canada and internationally. Many Canadians are on the arbitra- tion panels of the London Court of International Arbi- tration and the International Centre for Dispute Resolu- tion, the international arm of the American Arbitration Association. e International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration based in Paris con- ducts many arbitrations in Canada and Canadian arbi- trators regularly serve on its panels. e challenge for Toronto and the other Canadian commercial arbitration centres is to get the message out internationally about Canada's many advantages as a site for commercial arbitrations. In this way, a rising tide will surely li all boats. LT Earl Cherniak is a partner at Lerners LLP. u SPEAKER'S CORNER BY EARL CHERNIAK For Law Times T Queen's Park Ian Harvey I A Jan. 27 article on trust account transfers at Heydary Hamilton PC indicated that on Jan. 20, the court ordered the Law Society of Upper Canada to identify the three individuals who confi rmed Javad Heydary's death by affi davit. While Superior Court Justice Julie orburn initially suggested the law society should do so, she didn't actually make an order to that eff ect. e article also reported that on Jan. 23, the court ordered the law society to provide Samira and Hasan Abuzour with access to the records it has regarding the Heydary Hamilton accounts and detailed evidence of transactions between the fi rm and the other businesses such as Red Seal Notary. In fact, the court issued a more limited order requiring the law society to provide, for the period of April 19 to Nov. 25, 2013, the number of clients who had trust monies with Heydary Hamilton; the sum of money that should have been in the trust account at this time; and a summary of the transactions involving monies fl owing from the Heydary Hamilton trust account between those dates and what happened to them. CLARIFICATION

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