January 18, 2021
This 2019 decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal was the third in a trio of appeals regarding the topic of disengaging assets owned by insolvent entities subject to a Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”) proceeding from assets owned by other affiliated entities that were not insolvent.
January 14, 2021
The annual update to the statutory thresholds and deductibles for determining non-pecuniary tort damages arising from use or operation of vehicles has now been released. See Chart...
January 13, 2021
In Trumble v Soomal, 2020 ONSC 8097, Justice Sloan considered whether in a personal injury case the plaintiff or the defendant is obligated to pay for medical records.
January 08, 2021
The Supreme Court recently undertook to further refine the duty of honest performance in contract law. In a significant ruling on December 18, 2020, the Court held that this duty of honest contractual performance extends beyond lies to include knowingly misleading another party, whether through a partial truth, an omission, or even silence.
January 05, 2021
The world has gone through many changes in the past year, and the Ontario Small Claims Court is no exception. Since suspending sittings in March 2020, the Court has progressively begun expanding its remote operations. While traditionally resistant to change, the Courts have modified their usual operations in light of these unprecedented times and now hear many matters over teleconferencing and videoconferencing technologies.
The changes that the Ontario Small Claims Court has instituted to its usual operations are of note for both counsel and clients alike.
January 05, 2021
The Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) overturned the decision made by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, resulting in an award of one million dollars being afforded to Mr. Matthews, a skilled chemist who was constructively dismissed by his employer, Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. (“Ocean”) without reasonable notice.
December 16, 2020
On January 1, 2021, the amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure pursuant to O. Reg. 689/20 will take effect. The following is a summary of the key amendments.
December 16, 2020
In a recent Court of Appeal decision, the Court upheld the defendant occupiers' successful summary judgment motion in a trip-and-fall case. Despite the plaintiff having expert evidence stating an unsafe elevation in the floor caused him to fall, the Court of Appeal ...
December 03, 2020
This was updated in December 2020 after appeal.
This was a dispute between AIG Insurance Company of Canada and Lloyd's Underwriters in respect of the duty to defend a claim brought against the City of Markham.
The City rented a hockey rink to the Markham Waxers Hockey Club and associated entities. A young boy was injured while attending a game at the hockey rink. He sued the City, Hockey Canada and the Waxers for damages resulting from his injuries.
December 02, 2020
On November 20, 2020, Bill 218, entitled “Supporting Ontario's Recovery and Municipal Election Act, 2020” (“the Act”) received Royal Assent.1 The Act provides at section 2(1) that:
No cause of action arises against any person as a direct or indirect result of an individual being or potentially being infected with or exposed to coronavirus (COVID-19) on or after March 17, 2020, as a direct or indirect result of an act or omission of the person if...
November 24, 2020
In Huma v. Mississauga Hospital, the plaintiffs commenced a medical malpractice action against 14 physicians and two hospitals, alleging to have suffered significant damages as a result of the professional wrongdoing of same. The Statement of Claim stated that the plaintiffs were self-represented. Upon receipt of the Claim, the defendants defended the action.
Months later, having heard nothing from the plaintiffs, the defendants inquired as to whether the plaintiffs were willing to dismiss the action...
November 06, 2020
In McConnell v. Fraser, McCague Borlack LLP successfully opposed the Plaintiff's motion to amend his Statement of Claim to add a new cause of action outside the limitation period.
The issues before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice were as follows...
November 06, 2020
In Ontario, the provincial legislation shows a commitment to protecting contractors and subcontractors by enabling them to collect outstanding balances owing for services and materials through the use of construction trusts, holdbacks and liens. This case confirms this commitment and is a helpful decision for provincial contractors.
October 19, 2020
On September 23, 2020, the License Appeal Tribunal (“LAT”) released a ruling that it does not have jurisdiction to award punitive damages.
The Applicant filed a motion to the LAT requesting that a claim for punitive damages be added as an issue in dispute on the basis of an alleged privacy breach.
In the case of Unifund Assurance Co. v. Insurance Corp. of British Columbia, a family insured under an Ontario motor vehicle policy, issued by Unifund, was driving a rental car in British Columbia when they were struck by a tractor-trailer insured by ICBC under a British Columbia insurance policy. The insureds sued in British Columbia and were awarded $2.5 million. Unifund, in turn, brought suit against ICBC with reference to section 275 of Ontario’s Insurance Act and sought to recover the benefits it had paid out to the family under the SABS.
The case went to the Supreme Court of Canada which found...
