A. Skarica

The plaintiff subcontractor sued the defendant general contractor for unpaid invoices and extra work performed on a municipal renovation project.

The defendant refused to pay, alleging the plaintiff mismanaged the project, caused significant delays, and performed deficient work, and brought a counterclaim for costs to complete and rectify the work.

The court found the defendant's principal witness lacked credibility and that the defendant had orally approved the extra work, establishing a quantum meruit claim.

The court dismissed the counterclaim, finding no evidence of deficient work and noting the defendant failed to provide contractual notices of default.

The plaintiff was awarded $188,514.62 and its construction lien was declared valid.

The plaintiffs sued the defendants for negligence, occupier's liability, and breach of the Liquor Licence Act after the plaintiff suffered a severe spinal injury in a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert.

The defendants brought a motion for summary judgment.

The court found no evidence that the injury was reasonably foreseeable or that the defendants breached the standard of care, noting that security guards were present and actively monitoring the crowd.

The court granted the summary judgment motion and dismissed the action.

The plaintiff successfully defeated the defendants' summary judgment motion in a condominium construction defect case.

The plaintiff had previously served an offer to settle the motion on terms more favourable than the outcome.

The court awarded the plaintiff substantial indemnity costs of $42,812.79, finding the time spent reasonable given the complexity and volume of materials.

The court ordered these costs to be set off against $26,879.89 the plaintiff owed the defendants from previous motions, resulting in a net payment of $15,932.90 to the plaintiff.

During a trial for a shooting that resulted in one death and two injuries, the Crown sought to introduce photographs of a mark on a hallway baseboard taken seven years after the incident, along with related property manager testimony and expert opinions from a forensic video analyst and a firearms expert.

The court ruled the evidence admissible, finding that its probative value in determining whether the accused fired a weapon and in assessing witness credibility significantly outweighed any prejudicial effect.

The expert opinions met the threshold requirements for admissibility.

During a murder trial, the Crown sought to re-open its examination-in-chief of a witness to refresh her memory using a prior statement, after having closed its examination but before cross-examination began.

The witness had given testimony inconsistent with her prior statement regarding the actions of the accused after the shooting.

The trial judge granted the request, applying the Coffin procedure and finding that allowing the Crown to refresh the witness's memory would not cause prejudice or trial unfairness, as the defence could cure any prejudice through cross-examination.

During a second trial for second-degree murder, the Crown applied under section 715 of the Criminal Code to admit the prior trial testimony of a key witness who had left Canada for Ghana just before the trial commenced.

The court reviewed the principles from R. v. Potvin and subsequent jurisprudence regarding the principled approach to hearsay and the Crown's obligation to make reasonable efforts to secure testimony.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the Crown failed to establish necessity as it had not pursued alternatives like commission evidence or offered to fund the witness's return, and that admitting the evidence would operate unfairly against the accused.

The Crown brought an application to admit evidence of the accused's post-offence conduct at a sexual assault trial.

The accused had failed to appear for a court date and fled the country for five years, claiming he left due to threats to his life rather than the criminal charges.

The court found the accused's explanation, based on hearsay and rumours, lacked probative value.

The court held that the evidence of flight was logically relevant to the accused's culpability and its probative value exceeded any prejudicial effect.

The Crown's application was granted.

The offender was convicted by a jury of sexual interference and incest against his daughter.

The offences occurred over a five-year period starting when the victim was eight years old, involving approximately 50 incidents of sexual intercourse accompanied by violence and threats.

The court emphasized denunciation and deterrence, noting the profound breach of trust and severe psychological impact on the victim.

The offender was sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment, reduced to 93 months after credit for pre-trial custody, along with ancillary orders including a life weapons prohibition and SOIRA registration.

The accused pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by destroying evidence of a crime.

The Crown and defence presented a joint submission, supported by the victim's family, proposing a sentence of one day in custody after accounting for pre-trial custody and house arrest.

The court accepted the joint submission, noting the guilty plea as a significant mitigating factor and applying credit for four months of pre-trial custody and 2.3 years of house arrest.

A DNA order was also imposed.

In a medical malpractice jury trial, the court determined whether long‑term disability (LTD) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits should be deducted from damages for past and future income loss.

The plaintiff suffered a stroke after being discharged from hospital and claimed permanent inability to work.

The court held that CPP disability benefits are not deductible from income loss awards.

However, applying the Supreme Court of Canada’s guidance in IBM Canada Limited v. Waterman, the court concluded that the plaintiff’s employer‑funded LTD benefits functioned as indemnity for wage loss and should be deducted from any jury award to avoid double recovery.

The jury was therefore instructed to deduct LTD payments from both past and future wage loss damages.