Agricultural Law NetLetter - Sunday, December 7, 2014 - Issue 313

** HIGHLIGHTS ** *

• The Manitoba Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from a bankruptcy order on the grounds that leave was not obtained under s. 8(1) of the Family Farm Protection Act (Manitoba) before the application for a bankruptcy order was made. The farmer relied on a 1998 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada and his assertion that the bankruptcy order was a nullity as leave had not been obtained. The Court of Appeal held the Act did not apply as the land was not owned by the farmer, but by a corporation in which the farmer was the sole shareholder. The Court also observed that it may be necessary to consider the doctrine of paramountcy to determine whether the provincial Act applied to proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). (Keystone Agri-Motive (2005) Inc. v. Desrochers, CALN/2014-037, [2014] M.J. No. 323, Manitoba Court of Appeal)