A former advisor embroiled in a legal fight with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has been denied leave to appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada — seeking to overturn a lower court’s refusal to hear a proposed Charter challenge in the midst of an ongoing enforcement proceeding.
In 2022, the BCSC brought enforcement allegations against a former rep, Jean Andre Lamarche, alleging that he breached securities rules by trading and advising without registration between 2016 and 2020. He was last registered as a dealing rep at TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. in 2013.
Those allegations have not been proven.
The hearing has been embroiled in an ongoing legal challenge, launched by Lamarche in 2023, raising concerns about evidence collected by the regulator in the course of its investigation — specifically, emails collected from Lamarche’s internet service provider.
Among other things, Lamarche has argued that the provision of the Securities Act that the BCSC relied upon to collect that evidence is unconstitutional, as it creates the risk that the regulator can access privileged communications (under the solicitor-client privilege). And, he sought damages for alleged breaches of privacy legislation.
In 2024, the Supreme Court of B.C. dismissed Lamarche’s claim for damages, and stayed his proposed constitutional challenge, pending the outcome of the BCSC’s enforcement hearing.
On appeal, the Court of Appeal for B.C. partly allowed the appeal, siding with the lower court in its decision that the BCSC’s enforcement proceeding should be allowed to play out before a constitutional challenge is heard in court, but also overturning the lower court’s order dismissing Lamarche’s claim for damages from alleged privacy breaches.
However, the appeal court also ruled that the claim for privacy-related damages should be stayed until the regulator’s enforcement proceeding is complete.
Lamarche sought leave to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, which has now denied that bid, with costs to the BCSC.
The regulatory proceeding is now set to resume on May 11, with the panel to hear arguments on the constitutional question, among other preliminary matters.