Canadian Lawyer InHouse

LLP, co-chaired that effort, produc- ing a model law subsequently adopt- ed, with local variations, by New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and now Manitoba. For reasons neither Sotos nor Wilson can fathom, four other provinces — B.C., Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador — have yet to adopt any kind of franchise law, meaning franchisees in John Sotos, of Toronto-based Sotos those jurisdictions have no protections other than the common law. Quebec has no formal franchise statute either, although Sotos says Quebec's civil code does offer a "modicum of regulation" in the franchise area. "There have been noises emanating ed provinces, particularly B.C., one of Canada's largest economies. "B.C. was one of the jurisdictions from Quebec in the last few years about franchise-specific legislation," says Sotos. But no similar interest appears to be coming from other unregulat- Ball Professional Corporation Excellence in Employment & Labour Law • Counsel in Leading Cases • • Author of Leading Treatise • Wrongful Dismissal Employment Law Human Rights Post Employment Competition Civil Litigation Appellate Advocacy Disability Referrals on behalf of employees and employers respected 82 Scollard Street, Toronto, Canada, M5R 1G2 Contact Stacey Ball at (416) 921-7997 ext. 225 or srball@82scollard.com web: www.staceyball.com that provided a senior government law- yer who played a very active role in our [Uniform Law Conference] project," says Sotos. "But we've since seen noth- ing from B.C. and I don't know why. He says one reason may be that fran- " chisees, who tend to be small-business owners, are fiercely independent and unrepresented by industry associations, and therefore have little influence with governments or politicians. When Canadian Lawyer InHouse contacted the B.C. government in June, the issue wasn't on its radar. Officials at the province's Small Business Branch weren't even sure who was responsible for franchising matters for the govern- ment, and were unable to respond to queries about the possibility of a future disclosure law in B.C. "What we have here is a two-tiered nation on franchise law," says Wilson. "We have certain provinces where the law protects franchisees, and certain provinces where all franchisees can count on is the common law. It costs a lot of money to go to court for franchi- sees. And those in disputes with their franchisors tend not to have a lot of money. ates a two-tiered administrative system for national franchisors. Tim Hortons isn't required to treat all its franchisees equally under the law. In the city of Lloydminster, Sask., for example, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, a Tim Hortons franchisee on the Alberta side must receive a formal- ized, legal disclosure document from the company, while a different owner on the other side has no right to such a document. Exactly how national franchisors This statutory dichotomy also cre- " treat franchisees in unregulated prov- inces appears to be a sensitive mat- ter. In-house counsel for several major franchisors, including Tim Hortons, M&M Meat Shops Ltd., and The Second Cup Ltd., either declined or did not respond to requests for interviews for this article. One who agreed to discuss the issue 32 • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE all_IH_Aug_12.indd 1 12-06-28 10:00 AM INHOUSE

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