By Genevieve Saumier, 113 Penn St. L. Rev. 1203.
The prevalence of consumer arbitration as the dispute resolution mechanism of choice for business in North America may be at risk, at least north of the border. In the three most populous Canadian provinces, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, legislators and judges have declared clauses imposing arbitration unenforceable, preserving consumers’ access to courts and, perhaps more significantly, access to class actions. In so doing, these jurisdictions stand in stark contrast to the Supreme Court of Canada, which recently extended its pro-arbitration posture from the commercial to the consumer law realm by enforcing an arbitration clause in an online consumer contract, thereby putting an end to the consumer’s attempt to file a class action against the vendor . . . [keep reading]