Ecuador vs. Chevron, By Way of Canada
In the latest twist to a 22-year-old legal saga, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on September 4th that Ecuadorian villagers can seek to enforce an Ecuadorian legal judgment in Canada for $9.5 billion against Chevron Corporation for polluting the Amazon rainforest.
The plaintiffs were successful in arguing that since Chevron owns at least $15 billion worth of assets in Canada – including Newfoundland offshore oil fields, major investment in the Alberta tar sands, an oil refinery in B.C., natural gas holdings, and other assets – they can pursue the case in Ontario courts. In the unanimous 7-0 ruling, the Canadian Supreme Court sided with the villagers’ lawyers, agreeing that the province of Ontario has jurisdiction to recognize the $9.5 billion judgment obtained in 2011 by the villagers in an Ecuadorean court. [1]
Chevron Corp. had appealed to the Supreme Court in the hopes of overturning a lower-court decision that said the villagers could pursue their case in Ontario courts.
In the Supreme Court case, California-based multinational Chevron Corp. argued that its Canadian assets don’t belong to the parent company, but to a subsidiary called Chevron Canada Ltd. But the high court rejected the company’s arguments. Justice Clement Gascon ruled that Chevron Canada’s “bricks-and-mortar business in Ontario and its significant relationship with Chevron” is enough to establish jurisdiction for the case. [2]
The ruling does not mean that the Ecuadorian villagers can now seize Chevron’s Canadian assets. It only means that the case can go forward at a subsequent trial court in Ontario. As Justice Gascon wrote, “A finding of jurisdiction does nothing more than afford the plaintiffs the opportunity to seek recognition and enforcement.”
Nonetheless, the villagers and their lawyers believe the decision by the Supreme Court of Canada “has set an important milestone” [3] in a case that has been called “the trial of the century.”
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