Aliyyah Jafri

The applicant, operator of the Canadian Securities Exchange, sought a permanent injunction and take-down order against the respondent, a stock promoter.

Following the exchange's objection to the respondent serving on the board of a listed issuer, the respondent engaged in a sustained campaign of online harassment and defamation against the exchange and its personnel.

The court found the respondent's statements were clearly defamatory and not protected by defences of justification, fair comment, or responsible communication, as they were malicious, baseless, and irresponsible.

The court granted a permanent injunction restricting the respondent from making public allegations about the exchange's personnel, imposing specific content restrictions regarding the exchange, and ordering the removal of the defamatory posts.

The applicant, newly self-represented, sought an adjournment of a long-scheduled merits hearing two weeks before it was to commence.

He argued he needed time to prepare, respond to a parallel injunction hearing, and gather new evidence.

The Capital Markets Tribunal applied the test under subrule 34(1) of its Rules of Procedure, which requires exceptional circumstances to grant an adjournment.

The Tribunal found that the applicant's change in representation, the parallel proceeding, and his desire to adduce new evidence did not constitute exceptional circumstances.

The adjournment motion was dismissed.

The applicant, Internet Sciences Inc., failed to attend a case management hearing and refused to participate in the proceeding unless its demands, including the removal of the adjudicator for alleged bias, were met.

The adjudicator proceeded in the applicant's absence, dismissing its motion to remove the Ontario Securities Commission as a party and its motion for the adjudicator's recusal, finding no factual basis for the bias allegations.

Ultimately, the adjudicator dismissed the application in its entirety on the basis that it had been abandoned due to the applicant's refusal to participate and cooperate with the Tribunal's process.

The applicant, a self-represented reporting issuer, brought a motion seeking the recusal of the adjudicator for a reasonable apprehension of bias, and a motion to vary the adjudicator's prior reasons for decision under s. 144.1 of the Securities Act.

The bias allegations stemmed from the adjudicator's conduct during a case management hearing, including cautioning the applicant about citing non-existent rules and the potential for artificial intelligence hallucinations.

The adjudicator dismissed the bias motion, finding no reasonable apprehension of bias.

The adjudicator also dismissed the motion to vary, concluding that the requested variations were merely attempts to tinker with the language of the reasons and were not in the public interest.

An alternative request for a permanent confidentiality order over the reasons was also dismissed.

The applicant, a self-represented corporate entity, sought a review of a decision denying its application for listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

At a case management hearing, the applicant requested a highly compressed timeline for hearing its interlocutory motions and the merits application.

The Tribunal rejected the compressed timeline, noting the need for amended materials, proper disclosure, and adequate preparation time.

The Tribunal set a schedule for the exchange of materials and scheduled oral hearings by videoconference for the motions and the application.

The Tribunal also relieved the self-represented applicant from strict compliance with Rule 21, allowing it to file a list of documents instead of a formal motion record.