Akosua Matthews

The plaintiff First Nation sued the City of Winnipeg for compensation for injurious affection caused by Winnipeg's water-taking from Shoal Lake, and sued the Province of Ontario for breach of fiduciary duty for failing to protect the plaintiff's interests and ensure compensation.

Ontario moved to strike the breach of fiduciary duty claims under Rule 21.01(1)(b) for failing to disclose a reasonable cause of action.

The court dismissed the motion, finding it was not plain and obvious that the plaintiff's claims based on sui generis and ad hoc fiduciary duties were doomed to fail, given the historical context, the 1913 Order in Council, and the Crown's potential discretionary control over the plaintiff's cognizable Aboriginal interests.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's defamation action under the anti-SLAPP provisions of the Courts of Justice Act, the defendant sought costs on a full indemnity basis.

The court found that full indemnity was not appropriate because the action was not a SLAPP suit, and instead awarded costs on a partial indemnity scale.

Noting that both parties engaged in an unnecessary 'deep dive' into the evidence, the court fixed the costs at $130,000 all-inclusive, payable in two installments.

The plaintiff, former interim Commissioner of the OPP, brought a defamation action against the Premier of Ontario over public statements alleging the plaintiff breached the Police Services Act.

The defendant moved to dismiss the action under the anti-SLAPP provisions of s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The court granted the motion, finding that the defendant's expression related to a matter of public interest, the plaintiff could not show that the defence of fair comment had no real prospect of success, and the public interest in protecting the expression outweighed the public interest in permitting the action to continue.

The defendants, including the former and current Commissioners of the OPP and Her Majesty the Queen, brought motions to strike portions of the plaintiffs' statement of claim alleging negligent supervision and training following an alleged assault by police officers.

The court found that the claim against the current Commissioner disclosed a reasonable cause of action but failed to plead sufficient material facts, striking it with leave to amend.

The motion to strike the claim against the former Commissioner was dismissed, as the court found the plaintiffs had sufficiently pleaded material facts regarding his knowledge of the officers' alleged incompetence and lack of training.