Corner Brook Pulp & Paper Ltd v. Comm. Energy & Paper Workers Union

In Admiralty Practice, Injunctions on (Updated )

This was an ex parte application for an injunction to restrain the Defendants from picketing the Plaintiff’s wharf. The Defendants had erected a rope fence in the water opposite the Plaintiff’s wharf and used small boats to allegedly interfere with vessels intending to dock at the wharf. The court noted that only in the most exceptional circumstances will an ex parte injunction be granted. There must be evidence that unlawful conduct created a situation of urgency. The court declined the order sought. First, the court considered that the Plaintiff had not made out a case of sufficient urgency. Second, although the court accepted that the matter fell within the maritime jurisdiction of the Federal Court, it was thought that the Provincial superior court was a more appropriate forum as the substance of the dispute was a labour matter.