The date a limitation period begins depends on when the claim
was discovered. The recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal
in Kaynes v. BP, PLC clarifies the law of
discoverability under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O.
2002, c. 24 (the "Act")
concerning claims for fraudulent misrepresentation.
Overview
The defendant, BP PLC ("BP"), is a UK
petroleum company whose securities trade on international stock
exchanges. The plaintiff, Peter Kaynes
("Kaynes"), is an Ontario resident who
purchased BP shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Kaynes attempted to bring a class action against BP on behalf of
Canadian shareholders due to BP's alleged misrepresentations
about the safety of its drilling operations. BP's drilling
operations ultimately resulted in the Deepwater Horizon accident in
the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. Kaynes alleged that BP
misrepresented its ability to respond to an oil disaster which, in
effect, artificially inflated its share price. After
