Underneath the Golden Boy - Robson Hall Faculty of Law

298 Underneath the Golden Boy
reprehensible. This is following a depiction of Liberty forcing Halligan out of
business by withdrawing services during the tax season, setting up competing
stores and referring clients away from Halligan. 11
Both the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun reported on the most
recent franchise scandal in the province. Mr. Hisham Alard arrived to Winnipeg
from Syria in 2004 and was looking for business prospects. He found an
advertisement about a Pizza One franchise in the newspaper. The franchise cost
$50 000. Mr. Alard’s store never opened and he received nothing in return for
his deposit. 12 Although this is the only Pizza One case that has been reported in
Manitoba, there are several examples in Ontario. 13
It is important to note in this context that a review of court decisions is
unlikely to provide an accurate representation of franchise disputes because
some franchise agreements require arbitration and do not reach the courts. 14
Nonetheless, the fact that some cases are still getting to court is somewhat
indicative of what Mr. Maloway alluded to in 1992. In other words, Manitoba is
facing a problem with franchisors abusing franchisees and legislation must be
introduced to address the situation.
B. The Ontario Example
When considering Manitoba’s need for franchise legislation, there are two
primary reasons why Ontario’s experience should be taken into account. First, it
is one of the three provinces in Canada to have franchise legislation, known as
the most franchisee friendly version. This is important in Manitoba because,
according to the Law Commission’s report, it is a franchisee rather than a
franchisor province. 15 Second, when drafting model legislation, the Uniform Law
Conference of Canada followed Ontario’s legislation as its base. However, rather
than looking at Ontario’s Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000, 16
11
Halligan v. Liberty Tax Services Inc., [2006] 8 WWR 97, 202 Man. R. (2d) 268.
12
Alexandra Paul, “City Man Burned by Pizza Franchise Scam,” Winnipeg Free Press, (12
February 2007), online: Winnipeg Free Press Live
; Paul Turenne,
“Avoid Being the Victim,” Winnipeg SUN (12 February 2007), online: Winnipeg SUN Media
.
13
Some of the most recent Pizza One cases from Ontario include Ramjit v. 3 of 1 Pizza & Wings
(Canada) Inc., [2004] CarswellOnt 6402; Scott v. 3 for 1 Pizza & Wings (Canada) Inc., [2003]
CarswellOnt 3790; MAA Diners Inc. v. 3 for 1 Pizza and Wings (Canada) Inc. (2003), 30
B.L.R. (3d) 279; Ali v. Triple 3 Holdings Inc., [2001] O.J. No. 5755.
14
Manitoba Law Reform Commission, “Consultation Paper on Franchise Legislation,” online:
Current Projects at 15.
15
Ibid. at 47.
16
S.O. 2000, c. 3.