Industrial Relations - Torts - Intentional Interference with Advantageous Trade Relationships by Illegal Means - Intimidation - Conspiracy to Threaten Breach of Contract

Canadian courts will doubtless have to contend in the future with the tort of intimidation, as constituted by a threat to breach one\u27s own contract, to which the House of Lords has given its blessing in Rookes v Barnard. This case, considered by many to be the most important decision in the area of trade union law since the Taff Vale case, has attracted considerable public attention in England. Much of the comment has emphasized their Lordships\u27 treatment of section 3 of the Trade Disputes Act, 1906, of which there is no Canadian equivalent, but the new basis of common-law tort liability may well be thought, in legal circles, to be more important