Abdalla Barqawi

The plaintiffs, representing Ottawa taxi plate holders and brokers, brought a class action against the City of Ottawa for its response to Uber's entry into the local market in 2014.

The court found that the City owed a duty of care to the taxi industry based on a long-standing, collaborative relationship and was negligent in failing to enforce its 2012 taxi by-law against Uber.

However, the court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims that the City's actions violated section 15 of the Charter or the Human Rights Code, finding no disproportionate discriminatory impact based on race or immigrant status.

The court also dismissed the claim that the City's taxi licensing fees constituted an unlawful tax, finding a reasonable nexus between the fees and the cost of services provided.

Following the dismissal of Hockey Canada's motion to withdraw an affidavit and the vacating of its summary judgment motion, the plaintiff sought costs.

The plaintiff claimed partial indemnity costs for the motion and full indemnity for costs thrown away, totaling over $70,000.

The court found the plaintiff's claimed hours excessive due to duplication of work by multiple timekeepers and determined that some work done for the summary judgment motion could be repurposed for trial.

The court fixed the costs payable by Hockey Canada to the plaintiff at $25,000 all-inclusive.

The plaintiff father sued his defendant son and several of the son's companies, seeking the return of over $12 million in funds and properties transferred to the son between 2010 and 2015.

The father alleged that the properties were to be held in trust for him and his other children, and claimed breach of fiduciary duty, undue influence, and unjust enrichment.

The court dismissed the action, finding that the son successfully rebutted the presumption of resulting trust.

The court accepted the son's evidence, corroborated by independent witnesses and bank personnel, that the father had a clear donative intent and gifted the funds and properties to the son.