The way in which the common law
will look at contracts has changed dramatically with the decision of the
Supreme Court of Canada in Bhasin v.
Hrynew 2014 SCC 71. The Honorable
Justice Cromwell, concurred with by the Honourable Chief Justices McLachlin,
Lebel, Abella, Rothstein, Karakatsanis, and Wagner, has found that the duty to
perform a contract honestly and in good faith will now be implied as a term of
contracts and will, subject to very careful drafting, not be precluded by an
entire agreement clause.
What follows are quotes from
this ground breaking case which will be a welcome relief to many contracting
parties frustrated by what are alleged to be dishonest dealing motivated by male fides; two paragraphs, [33], [74]
and [86], summarize the new obligations:
"[33] In my view, it is
time to take two incremental steps in order to make the common law less
unsettled and piecemeal, more coherent and more just. The first step is to
acknowledge that good faith contractual performance is a general organizing
principle of the common law of contract which underpins and informs the various
rules in which the common law, in various situations and types of
relationships, recognizes obligations of good faith contractual performance.
The second is to recognize, as a further manifestation of this organizing
principle of good faith, that there is a common law duty which applies to all
contracts to act honestly in the performance of contractual obligations."
“[74] There is a longstanding
debate about whether the duty of good faith arises as a term implied as a
matter of fact or a term implied by law: see Mesa Operating, at paras. 15_19. I
do not have to resolve this debate fully, which, as I reviewed earlier, casts a
shadow of uncertainty over a good deal of the jurisprudence. I am at this point concerned only with a new
duty of honest performance and, as I see it, this should not be thought of as
an implied term, but a general doctrine of contract law that imposes as a
contractual duty a minimum standard of honest contractual performance. It
operates irrespective of the intentions of the parties, and is to this extent
analogous to equitable doctrines which impose limits on the freedom of
contract, such as the doctrine of unconscionability.”
“[86] The duty of honest
performance that I propose should not be confused with a duty of disclosure or
of fiduciary loyalty. A party to a
contract has no general duty to subordinate his or her interest to that of the
other party. However, contracting parties must be able to rely on a minimum
standard of honesty from their contracting partner in relation to performing
the contract as a reassurance that if the contract does not work out, they will
have a fair opportunity to protect their interests."
Justice Cromwell reflected on
three circumstances which historically have attracted the duty of good faith
and unpin the manner in which the Court will impose this duty; at paragraph 47
and 48:
[47] “By way of example,
Professor McCamus has identified three broad types of situations in which a
duty of good faith performance of some kind has been found to exist: (1) where
the parties must cooperate in order to achieve the objects of the contract; (2)
where one party exercises a discretionary power under the contract; and (3)
where one party seeks to evade contractual duties (pp. 840_56; CivicLife.com
Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) (2006), 215 O.A.C. 43, at paras.
49_50).
[48] While these types of
cases overlap to some extent, they provide a useful analytical tool to
appreciate the current state of the law on the duty of good faith."
Justice Cromwell then went on
to make it clear that this obligation will apply to real estate contracts and
will be applied to prevent contracting parties who regret a bargain from reneging
on the bargain:
"[49] The first type of
situation (contracts requiring the cooperation of the parties to achieve the
objects of the contract) is reflected in the jurisprudence of this Court. In Dynamic Transport Ltd. v. O.K. Detailing
Ltd., [1978] 2 S.C.R. 1072, the parties to a real estate transaction failed
to specify in the purchase_sale agreement which party was to be responsible for
obtaining planning permission for a subdivision of the property. By law, the
vendor was the only party capable of obtaining such permission. The Court held
that the vendor was under an obligation to use reasonable efforts to secure the
permission, or as Dickson J. put it, “[t]he vendor is under a duty to act in
good faith and to take all reasonable steps to complete the sale”: p. 1084."
"[51] This Court’s decision in
Mason v. Freedman, [1958] S.C.R. 483,
falls in the third type of situation in which a duty of good faith arises
(where a contractual power is used to evade a contractual duty). In that case,
the vendor in a real estate transaction regretted the bargain he had made. He
then sought to repudiate the contract by failing to convey title in fee simple
because he claimed his wife would not provide a bar of dower. The issue was
whether he could take advantage of a clause permitting him to repudiate the
transaction in the event that he was “unable or unwilling” to remove this
defect in title even though he had made no efforts to do so by trying to obtain
the bar of dower. Judson J. held that the
clause did not “enable a person to repudiate a contract for a cause which he
himself has brought about” or permit “a capricious or arbitrary repudiation”:
p. 486. On the contrary, “[a] vendor who seeks to take advantage of the clause
must exercise his right reasonably and in good faith and not in a capricious or
arbitrary manner”: p. 487."
Justice Cromwell makes it
clear that commercial parties reasonably expect what he referred to as a basic
level of honesty and good faith in their commercial dealings:
"[60] Commercial parties
reasonably expect a basic level of honesty and good faith in contractual
dealings. While they remain at arm’s length and are not subject to the duties
of a fiduciary, a basic level of honest conduct is necessary to the proper
functioning of commerce. The growth of longer term, relational contracts that
depend on an element of trust and cooperation clearly call for a basic element
of honesty in performance, but, even in transactional exchanges, misleading or
deceitful conduct will fly in the face of the expectations of the parties: see
Swan and Adamski, at §1.24."
Justice Cromwell also
suggests that the duty of honesty and good faith leads to the conclusion that
contracting parties should have “appropriate regard” for their contracting
parties “legitimate contractual interests and makes it clear that this duty is
distinct from a fiduciary duty. Justice
Cromwell makes it clear that it is not okay to lie or mislead contracting
parties but such obligation does not create a duty of disclosure:
“[65] The organizing
principle of good faith exemplifies the notion that, in carrying out his or her
own performance of the contract, a contracting party should have appropriate
regard to the legitimate contractual interests of the contracting partner.
While “appropriate regard” for the other party’s interests will vary depending
on the context of the contractual relationship, it does not require acting to
serve those interests in all cases. It merely requires that a party not seek to
undermine those interests in bad faith. This general principle has strong
conceptual differences from the much higher obligations of a fiduciary. Unlike fiduciary duties, good faith
performance does not engage duties of loyalty to the other contracting party or
a duty to put the interests of the other contracting party first.”
“[73] In my view, we should.
I would hold that there is a general duty of honesty in contractual
performance. This means simply that parties must not lie or otherwise knowingly
mislead each other about matters directly linked to the performance of the
contract. This does not impose a duty of loyalty or of disclosure or require a
party to forego advantages flowing from the contract; it is a simple
requirement not to lie or mislead the other party about one’s contractual
performance. Recognizing a duty of honest performance flowing directly from the
common law organizing principle of good faith is a modest, incremental step.
The requirement to act honestly is one of the most widely recognized aspects of
the organizing principle of good faith.”
The Bhasin case will have far reaching implications. It will be interesting to see how creative
lawyers try to limit the scope of the duty of good faith without suggesting
that dishonesty is contemplated by the contracting parties. I query if much of the attempt to exculpate
such obligations may simply be unenforceable as against public policy in light
of Bhasin. More significantly litigating parties and their
litigators will add this to their pleadings and it will create potential liability
even in the face of the well drafted contracts often foisted upon less powerful
contracting parties.