Joseph N. Blinick | Commercial Litigation, Securities, Class Actions and Insolvency Lawyer at Bennett Jones Toronto


Bennett Jones Joseph N. Blinick Partner Toronto 416.777.4828 blinickj@bennettjones.com Education University of Western Ontario, BA (Hons), 2008 University of Western Ontario, JD, 2012 Bar Admissions Ontario, 2013 Joseph Blinick is the go-to advocate for clients facing complex corporate commercial disputes, securities litigation, class actions and insolvency proceedings. With a track record of precedent-setting wins and high-profile cases, he delivers strategic, results-driven solutions in the courtroom and beyond. Overview Commercial Disputes Joseph is a corporate commercial litigator who represents clients across a wide range of industries on a broad range of issues, navigating high-stakes disputes with precision and a deep understanding of business and regulatory challenges. He has extensive motion (including injunction), application, trial and appellate experience, appearing before all levels of court in Ontario, the Supreme Courts of British Columbia and Yukon, and various regulatory and administrative tribunals. Recognized across the leading Canadian legal directories, Joseph is known for his sharp and decisive counsel, resolving the most challenging legal matters. Securities Litigation A recognized force in securities disputes, Joseph regularly acts on shareholder conflicts, oppression proceedings, plans of arrangement, contested corporate transactions, capital markets litigation and regulatory investigations. He is ranked by Chambers Canada for his work in this space, reflecting his reputation for tackling complex securities matters with strategic insight and courtroom strength. Class Actions Joseph has extensive experience defending class actions. He successfully defended Canadian insurers in a multi-week common issues trial over COVID-19 business interruption claims seeking billions in damages—an industry-defining victory upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal. Joseph also recently secured the dismissal of an $800-million representative action in Yukon against former directors of Katanga Mining for alleged oppression, in a decision that was upheld by the Yukon Court of Appeal. His ability to dismantle high-exposure claims makes him a sought-after litigator in this field. Bankruptcy and Insolvency Proceedings Joseph also regularly represents court-appointed officers (including receivers, trustees and monitors), debtors, creditors and other stakeholders in contested restructuring proceedings. He brings clarity to complex insolvency matters, delivering strategic solutions that protect his clients’ interests in high-pressure situations. Beyond his legal practice, Joseph mentors the next generation of litigators as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He is an active member of the Toronto Lawyers' Association, the Advocates' Society and the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations. Joseph also serves as a registered notary public. ,,Joseph demonstrates an excellent understanding of the issues and is also a pleasure to work with.,, — What Clients Say Commercial Disputes • Sharp Therapeutics in its qualifying transaction by way of reverse takeover by EVP Capital of Sharp Edge Labs • MNP Corporate Finance in its efforts to recover a multimillion-dollar success fee related to financing it facilitated for a former client, leading to a multi-week trial on whether the facilitated arrangement constituted debt financing or a purchase and sale transaction • Algonquin Power Services Canada in connection with various proceedings relating to the development of the Amherst Island Wind Project. • Canadian Hedge Watch in obtaining injunctive relief and recovery of funds in connection with a case against a former employee and several related parties involving breach of fiduciary duties and restrictive covenants • Telecon in obtaining a Mareva Order and recovery of misappropriated funds in connection with a fraudulent scheme. • Telecon in obtaining injunctive relief and recovery of funds in connection with an unfair competition and wrongful solicitation matter as against a competitor who breached restrictive covenants in a commercial agreement. • Akvatech AS in the successful defence of an application seeking to invalidate a license granting intellectual property rights, and in the successful defence of an appeal seeking to overturn the judgment granted by the Superior Court in Akvatech AS’ favour • Bank of Montreal in connection with various commercial litigation matters. • Coca-Cola in connection with various commercial litigation matters. • KingSett in connection with various proceedings relating to its development activities. • Ameresco Canada in connection with construction-related litigation. • Core Mark International in connection with various employment litigation matters. • Nestle Canada in connection with various employment litigation matters. • A former employee of CN Rail in connection with injunction proceedings alleging misappropriation and misuse of confidential information involving CP Rail and other related parties. • Ascendant Resources in connection with various litigation matters. • B'Nai Brith Canada in connection with various litigation matters. • Canadian counsel to Hermitage Capital Management Limited in the money laundering investigation by Canadian authorities regarding proceeds of a US$230-million tax refund fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky. • Innvest REIT in connection with construction-related matters arising from the renovation of the Royal York Hotel. • Mattamy Homes in connection with various construction disputes. • The joint liquidators of Stanford International Bank in recovery efforts arising from losses in the amount of $5.5 billion, the world's second largest Ponzi scheme. • De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited in connection with labour injunction proceedings. • The Minto Group in connection with various proceedings relating to its development activities and in connection with claims under the Condominium Act. • Pinnacle International in connection with various proceedings relating to its development activities and in connection with claims under the Condominium Act. • CRRC Meishan in connection with mediation/arbitral proceedings relating to the break-up of its joint venture with a Saskatchewan-based company for the manufacturing of rail cars. • Auxly Cannabis Group in connection with various securities and employment-related matters. • CP Rail in connection with various proceedings relating to alleged personal injuries. Securities Litigation • Adventus Mining Corporation in its C$200-million acquisition by Silvercorp Metals by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act • Dore Copper Mining in its acquisition by Cygnus Metals by way of plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act • Drone Delivery Canada in its merger of equals transaction with Volatus Aerospace to create a global diversified drone technology and services leader. • Florida Canyon Gold in its acquisition by Integra Resources by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement for implied consideration of approximately C$95 million. • Morrison Hershfield Group (private company) in connection with its acquisition by Stantec Consulting by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). • NOVA Infrastructure in connection with its purchase of UGE International, a community solar and battery storage business, by way of court-approved plan of arrangement. • Park Lawn Corporation, a funeral, cremation and cemetery provider, in its C$1.2-billion going private transaction involving Viridian Acquisition • Shift 4 Payments, a leading global processing company, in its acquisition of Givex, a leading payment processing company, by way of court-approved plan of arrangement, in a $200 million all cash transaction • Cliffside Capital Ltd. in its transaction with Cliffside Ltd., CFLP Limited Partnership and LC Asset Management Corporation • Sharp Edge Labs and SEL AcquisitionCo in their acquisition of EVP Capital by way of plan of arrangement • Killam Apartment REIT, Killam Apartment Limited Partnership, Killam Properties Inc., 16430929 Canada Inc., Killam Apartment Subsidiary 2024 Limited Partnership and others in connection with their internal re-organization by of plan of arrangement • Gold Flora in connection with its contested business combination with TPCO Holding (The Parent Company), to create a leading vertically-integrated California cannabis company, involving a court-approved plan of arrangement of TPCO Holding under the British Columbia Business Corporation Act • Nobul Technologies in connection with its internal re-organization by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Ontario Business Corporation Act • BriaCell Therapeutics in connection with its spin-out of assets by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the British Columbia Business Corporation Act • Spark Power Group in connection with its acquisition by Generator-Spark Canada Buyer Inc. (an affiliate of American Pacific Group, L.P.) by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Ontario Business Corporation Act • i-80 Gold in its acquisition of Paycore Minerals by way of court-approved plan arrangement under the Ontario Business Corporation Act • Voyager Metals in connection with its acquisition by Cerrado Gold by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Ontario Business Corporation Act • Palladium One Mining in its acquisition of Metalcorp Limited by way of court-approved plan arrangement under the Ontario Business Corporation Act • Reunion Neuroscience in connection with its acquisition by 1000548481 Ontario Inc. by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Canadian Business Corporation Act • Millennial Precious Metals in its acquisition by Integra Resources by way of plan of arrangement in a transaction valued at approximately C$35-million. • CF Acquisition Corp VI, a special purpose acquisition company, in connection with its acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding securities of Rumble Inc. by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). • Harvest Health & Recreation in the US $2.1-billion sale of all of its issued and outstanding shares to Trulieve Cannabis Corp. by way of a court-approved statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), the largest public company acquisition in the history of the U.S. cannabis sector to date. • Field Trip Health in the spin-out of its drug development and medical clinics businesses into two independent public companies, Reunion Neuroscience and Field Trip Health & Wellness, by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). • ecobee Inc. in the US$770-million acquisition by Generac Holdings Inc. of all of ecobee Inc.'s outstanding securities by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act. • FSD Pharma in connection with a proxy contest. • A group of shareholders in connection with their successful opposition to a plan of arrangement of Bravio Technologies under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), one of the few successful oppositions to court-approval of a plan of arrangement in Canada. • 48North Cannabis in its $50-million acquisition by HEXO Corp by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act. • A group of minority shareholders of Kooy Brothers Lawn Equipment in connection with oppression and valuation proceedings. • Cresco Labs in its $1.1-billion acquisition of Origin House by way of court-approved statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario), the then largest public company acquisition in the history of the U.S. cannabis sector. • A director, officer and shareholder of various SkyPower entities in connection with oppression proceedings commenced by minority shareholders. • Cresco Labs in connection with dissent proceedings following its acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding securities of Origin House by way of court-approved statutory plan of arrangement. • A director and officer of MedMen Enterprises in connection with employment and oppression matters. • Cresco Labs in its US$207-million acquisition of Bluma Wellness Inc. a vertically integrated operator in Florida, by way of court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). • Seven Aces in connection with its go-private transaction pursuant to which an affiliate of Trive Capital Management acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Seven Aces by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario). • Canada Nickel Company in connection with a plan of arrangement to effect a reorganization of Noble Mineral Exploration Inc., the primary result of which was the distribution of approximately 10,000,000 common shares of Canada Nickel to the shareholders of Noble. • McEwen Mining in its acquisition of Lexam VG Gold Inc. by way of court-approved plan of arrangement with a transaction value of approximately $70 million. • Era Resources in its going private transaction by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act. • The Special Committee of Central GoldTrust in Sprott Asset Management's $1-billion hostile takeover bid for all the outstanding Units of Central GoldTrust. • The Special Committee of Silver Bullion Trust in Sprott Asset Management's $62-million hostile takeover bid for all the outstanding Units of Silver Bullion Trust. • The special committee of Holloway Lodging Corporation in the acquisition by Clarke Inc. of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Holloway that it does not currently own by way of statutory plan of arrangement • Crocodile Gold (TSX) in its combination with Newmarket Gold (TSXV) pursuant to a court approved plan of arrangement for approximately $185 million. Class Actions • Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company in the successful defence of class actions and individual proceedings relating to denial of business interruption insurance claims arising as a result of COVID-19. • Directors of Katanga Mining in the successful defence of a proposed representative action commenced on behalf of minority shareholders of Katanga for alleged oppression in relation to Katanga's $7.6 billion rights offering and go-private transaction. • Travelers Insurance Company of Canada and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company in their successful defence of a putative class action alleging mishandling of statutory accident benefit claims, which was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds prior to certification. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and the plaintiff's' application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied. • The CFO of CannTrust Holdings in a securities class action alleging misrepresentations related to the company's licenses to cultivate cannabis. • Beleave in defence of a securities class action with respect to certain private placements. • Nature's Bounty in defence of a Canadian class action alleging misrepresentation in the labeling of glucosamine supplements. • Mettrum in defence of a class action, one of the first class actions in the Canadian cannabis industry, relating to the production and sale of its cannabis products and its subsequent recalls of certain products arising from the alleged use of unauthorized pesticides. • Expedia in defence of a class action alleging breach of contract and violation of various consumer protection statutes in its practices of charging tax recovery fees and service charges to its customers for certain bookings. • Sino-Forest Corporation in its defence of a national primary and secondary market securities class action. • The distributors of aftermarket insulation products in defence of a class action brought for alleged violations of the Hazardous Products Act. • Kawasaki Motors Corporation, USA in connection with its early defence of a class action alleging price-fixing and misleading advertising in respect of the sale by others of lawn mowers in Canada. Bankruptcy and Insolvency • BZAM Ltd. and other applicants in CCAA proceedings, including in respect of successfully defending a claim by Final Bell Holdings International Ltd. seeking equitable damages, a constructive trust and other relief • The directors and officers of Balboa Inc. et al., in connection with proceedings under the CCAA • The Court-appointed Receiver of Scollard Development Corporation and ten other real estate development companies in connection with litigation against the companies' directors, officers and professional advisors relating to a syndicated mortgage scheme in which investors lost approximately $100 million. • The Court-appointed Receiver of Sunrise Acquisitions (Hwy 7) in connection with litigation against the companies' principals and certain other related individuals and entities for recovery of misappropriated funds. • The Applicants, MPX International Corporation and related companies, in connection with ongoing proceedings under the CCAA. • The Trustee in Bankruptcy for Yuan Hua (Mike) Wang, a director and officer of the Forme Development Group and related companies, in connection with Mr. Wang's personal bankruptcy proceeding. • Wells Fargo as first-secured creditor, in connection with proceedings against Hamilton Specialty Bar under the BIA. • A director of the Distinct Infrastructure Group in connection with various litigation proceedings brought by the court-appointed Receiver of DIG and various other parties. • SunEdison Canada in its restructuring of its Canadian business under the CCAA. • New Solutions Financial Corporation, representing primary secured creditor in CCAA proceedings.