Economical Mutual Insurance Company v Caughy, 2016 ONCA 226 [Caughy] is the latest decision in the ongoing conflict between the prerogative of automobile accident insurers to deny coverage when faced with ambiguity over statutory definitions, on the one hand, and the need to uphold coverage where ambiguous cases are coupled with serious debilitating injuries. In […]
Being laid off close to the age of retirement can be quite a devastating experience. It is all the more devastating when you have worked for the same company for three decades and your skills may not reflect current job market needs. Add to this the fact that, because of your employment contract, you are […]
Mapleview-Veterans Drive Investments Inc. v Papa Kerollus VI Inc. (Mr. Sub), 2016 ONCA 93 [Mapleview], a case released yesterday by the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”), is the latest pronouncement on interpreting commercial lease provisions. While the outcome of the appeal is understandable given the facts relied upon by the parties, it causes concerns not […]
The Supreme Court’s judgment in R v Meer [2016 SCC 5] was very brief. In essence: appeal dismissed; majority below—right, dissent—wrong. The case itself, however, as described in the reasons of the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”) [2015 ABCA 141] from which the appeal was made, has all the qualities of a soap opera. It […]
Some time ago, I wrote a piece on the one line Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) holding that the appeal in R v Riesberry [Riesberry] is to be dismissed. In that article, I purported to prognosticate on the ratio to be derived from what, on the facts, appears to be a straightforward case. Briefly: a […]
Judges should assume facts in claims are true when considering whether to strike out a pleading under Rule 21 of Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rules”). In a case earlier this month, Gaur v Datta, 2015 ONCA 151, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned a motion judge’s ruling in a 3-0 decision, allowing the appellants […]
Lawyers and experts can and should work together to prepare expert reports, declared the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA") in a recent unanimous decision. In late January, ONCA ruled in Moore v Getahun, 2015 ONCA 55, that allowing lawyers and experts to discuss the contents of expert reports while those reports are being prepared is […]
Ontario housing activists were disappointed by a December ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal. In a 2-1 decision, the court decided that the pleadings in Tanudjaja v Canada, 2014 ONCA 852 [Tanudjaja], did not present the bench with a justiciable issue, upholding a lower court decision to strike the application. The application had asked the court […]
On January 14, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) heard oral arguments for the case Her Majesty the Queen v Jason Rodgerson [Rodgerson] regarding: firstly, whether or not the majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) in R v Rodgerson, 2014 ONCA 366 [Rodgerson, ONCA] erred in law by finding reversible error in […]
In R v Safarzadeh-Markhali, 2014 ONCA 627, the Court of Appeal for Ontario struck down the legislative scheme surrounding sentencing and the credits granted for pre-sentence custody.