Martel Building Ltd. v. Canada
T-1273-93
Reed J.
22/4/97
32 pp.
Action for damages on basis of loss of ten-year rental contract-Plaintiff claiming: 1) defendant breached implied term of existing lease between parties and of agreement for renewal of lease; 2) defendant acted negligently by failing to negotiate in good faith for lease renewal; 3) defendant acted negligently by failing to exercise duty of care in conduct followed in dealing with plaintiff-Plaintiff owner of building in Ottawa (Martel building)-Mr. McMurray President, Chief Executive Officer of plaintiff-Defendant lessee of most of space in Martel Building since construction of building in 1975-Main user of rented space Atomic Energy Control Board-Anticipating August 1993 expiry of lease of Martel building space, Mr. McMurray, Ms. MacKillop, building manager, sought in early 1991 meeting with Mr. Séguin, Chief of Leasing for Department of Public Works, to discuss possible renegotiation, renewal of lease-Plaintiff facing serious problems in dealing with Public Works-Causal linkage to claimed damages, loss of ten-year rental contract not sufficiently certain to allow Court to conclude plaintiff has met burden of proof in regard of breach of agreement for renewal of lease-Tort of failure to negotiate in good faith not established-Mr. McMurray lost opportunity to negotiate lease renewal-Also misled, perhaps inadvertently, into thinking Mr. Séguin had authority to commit Department-In negligence claim, first step to determine whether duty of care owed by defendant to plaintiff-Whether sufficiently close relationship between parties so that, in reasonable contemplation of defendant, carelessness on its part might cause damage to plaintiff-Relationship between parties herein supporting conclusion requisite duty of care existed-Parties had subsisting long standing lessor/lessee relationship-Lease contemplating possibility of renewal although no obligation to renegotiate-Defendant essentially only tenant since building first constructed-Dominant player in leasing of rental space in area where building located-Relationship between parties such that one could reasonably contemplate carelessness on part of defendant might cause damage to plaintiff-Second requirement to be met in negligence claim whether breach of duty of care-Defendant, as represented by various officers of Public Works, not acting reasonably in light of all circumstances-Standard of care breached-Plaintiff facing difficulty of proving causation-Lost opportunity to complete negotiations of lease renewal as result of defendant's employees actions-Market in downward spiral contributing to loss of lease opportunity-Plaintiff has not proven causal linkage to support damages claimed-Action dismissed.