Halifax Port Authority Three-Way Fight

A decision by the Halifax Port Authority to increase the rent it charges container terminal operator Halterm Limited by 700 per cent, has triggered proceedings which are unfolding simultaneously before the Federal Court of Canada, the Canadian Transportation Agency and the Nova Scotia Courts. The Port Authority has challenged the jurisdiction of both the Federal Court and the Agency to hear the tenant’s complaints of illegal conduct and unjust discrimination, and is appealing a stay of its declaratory proceedings challenging Halterm’s lease renewal rights in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

Halterm’s lead counsel are Michael Phelan (Ottawa) and William Hesler (Montreal) of Ogilvy Renault, along with John Murphy and Rob MacGregor of Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales in Halifax. The Halifax Port Authority is represented by Robert Belliveau and Wylie Spicer of McInnes Cooper in Halifax and James H. Smellie of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Ottawa.