Sinead Owns a Cottage That Has Been in Her Family

question 20

Essay

Sinead owns a cottage that has been in her family for generations. Until recently, the natural beauty of the property was enhanced by surrounding forest, which consisted of old- growth trees that had taken generations to reach full maturity. Sinead was therefore devastated when she last visited her cottage and discovered that all of those trees had been cut down and dragged away. It was not difficult to identify the culprit. Xarol Developments Inc had purchased a number of nearby properties with the intention of building new, luxury cottages for the high- end market. In order to add to the value of those properties, Xarol had entered onto Sinead's land and cut down her trees, thereby allowing the new cottages that it was building to have unobstructed views of the nearby lake. Xarol has admitted to committing a trespass to land and has offered to pay for the value of the trees. It does so secure in the knowledge that it would still reap a substantial profit of
$100 000 from its actions as a result of being able to sell its new cottages for higher prices. Sinead disagrees. She believes that she is entitled, in addition to compensatory damages for her loss, to punitive damages worth $5 000 000. She settled on that figure after watching a television program that dealt with punitive damages in American courts. (She could not find a similar program on Canadian law.) Is a Canadian court likely to award punitive damages? If so, it is likely to award punitive damages worth $5 000 000? Explain your answer.

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Definitions:

Temperaments

Inborn personality traits that influence how one typically responds to the environment.

Spectrum

A range or continuum of different but related items, values, or conditions, often used to describe frequencies of light, autism disorders, or any comprehensive range.

Temperament

An individual's innate disposition or natural predisposition to behave and react in certain consistent ways.

Emotional Reactivity

The extent to which a person reacts emotionally to events or situations, which can vary widely among individuals.