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Canada high court to hear Chevron in $9.1 billion Ecuador lawsuit
The Supreme Court of Canada agreed…to hear an appeal by Chevron…of a lower-court decision that said Ecuadorean villagers could pursue in Ontario their $9.51 billion lawsuit for pollution in the Amazon jungle. The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in December that Ontario was a proper jurisdiction for the Ecuadorean plaintiffs to press Chevron to pay up, and Chevron wants the Supreme Court of Canada to say the Ontario courts have no jurisdiction…The California-based company no longer has any assets in Ecuador. A U.S. judge…barred…the villagers from enforcing the Ecuadorean judgment in the United States. The Ecuadoreans say Chevron has $15 billion of assets in Canada. The Ontario Court of Appeal decision…overturned a ruling…earlier by Ontario Superior Court Justice…who had granted Chevron a stay in the proceedings on the basis that…Chevron Canada's assets were not directly owned by Chevron Corp…