Summary#

Bill 115, the Bringing Choice and Fairness to the People Act (Beverage Alcohol Retail Sales), 2019, was enacted as Chapter 10 of Ontario’s 2019 statutes. It amends the Liquor Control Act and repeals three provisions of the Building Ontario Up Act (Budget Measures), 2015. Its stated goal is not set out in the supplied material; despite its title, the text does not change where or how people can buy alcohol.

• If the Master Framework Agreement is still in effect when the relevant provisions start, the agreement is terminated that day. It was an agreement between Brewers Retail Inc., four named breweries, and Ontario.
• The Act bars claims for compensation or other remedies related to the agreement’s termination or related conduct. It also dismisses covered proceedings already underway and nullifies decisions in those proceedings.
• The bar covers losses such as lost profits, business opportunities, and lost use of capital. Ontario and its agents are not barred from bringing proceedings.
• The October 2015 agreement and the Termination Agreement are not terminated by the Master Framework Agreement’s termination, and their rights and duties are not affected by that termination. However, the Act says its termination and claims provisions prevail over any conflicting terms in those agreements.
• The Act starts on a date set by proclamation. The supplied material does not give that date.

What it means for you#

• Brewers Retail Inc. and the named breweries: If the Master Framework Agreement was still in effect when the provisions started, it ended then. Claims for compensation or other remedies connected directly or indirectly to the agreement, its termination, or related representations or conduct are barred.
• People or businesses with a related case: Covered proceedings already underway are treated as dismissed without costs when the provisions start. Decisions in those proceedings have no effect. The bar also applies to proceedings seeking to enforce judgments or orders from courts or tribunals outside Canada.
• Ontario and its agents: The Act does not prevent the Crown or its agents from starting proceedings.
• Alcohol consumers: The text does not directly change alcohol prices, retail locations, store ownership, or who may sell alcohol.

Money#

No cost estimate or other financial-impact information is available in the supplied material.

• The Act provides that no costs, compensation, or damages are payable for the covered matters. It lists losses including lost profits, business opportunities, and use of capital.
• The Act contains no spending appropriation or cost estimate in the supplied text.

What is unclear#

• The date the Act’s provisions started is not given. The termination depends on that date and on whether the Master Framework Agreement was then in effect.
• The supplied material does not include the agreements’ full terms or explain what the three repealed provisions of the Building Ontario Up Act did.
• The Act does not define the reach of conduct “related” to the Master Framework Agreement. How that wording applies to particular claims is unclear from the text.
• The Act preserves the two other agreements from termination, but says its provisions prevail over conflicting terms. The practical effect on any such conflicting terms is not explained.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the bill is that it sets a clear legal end to the Master Framework Agreement, if the agreement remained in effect when the Act started.
• The bill could be seen as limiting uncertainty over claims for losses tied to the agreement or its termination.
• It expressly leaves the October 2015 agreement and the Termination Agreement in place, rather than terminating those agreements along with the Master Framework Agreement.

Case against#

• One concern is that the bill removes compensation and other legal remedies for a wide range of losses, including losses tied to past conduct, and dismisses covered cases already underway.
• The bar applies even to proceedings based on claims that arose before the Act started, and it reaches claims about representations or conduct related to the agreement.
• The Crown and its agents are exempt from the bar on proceedings, while other people and businesses are subject to it.
• It is unclear how the claims bar interacts with terms in the two agreements the Act says it does not terminate.