Aisha Hussain

The plaintiff, Haytham Elzayat, brought a civil action against the Toronto Police Services Board for alleged misconduct arising from his arrests and charges for assault on October 17, 2016, and April 15, 2017.

The court found that the police officers involved acted reasonably and met the required standard of care in their investigations and arrests.

The court dismissed all claims, including those for negligent investigation, breach of Charter rights, and discrimination, and found no evidence to support the plaintiff’s allegations.

The court also addressed the limitation period and assessed damages that would have been awarded had the claim succeeded, ultimately awarding costs to the defendant.

The respondents purchased a property and subsequently discovered latent construction defects related to building permits issued in 1987.

They commenced an action against the appellant municipality more than 15 years after the permits were issued.

The motion judge held that the ultimate 15-year limitation period under s. 15(2) of the Limitations Act, 2002 was tolled pursuant to s. 15(4)(b) because one of the respondents was a minor during the running of the limitation period, even though she did not own the property or have a claim at that time.

The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that a purposive and contextual interpretation of s. 15(4)(b) requires that the plaintiff's claim must arise while they are a minor for the tolling provision to apply.

The claims regarding the 1987 building permits were therefore statute-barred.