Aya Schechner

The appellant sought to compel the respondent bank to reinstate a chequing account that had been closed.

The appellant argued that section 627.17(1) of the Bank Act required the bank to maintain the account once opened.

The application judge rejected this argument, holding that section 627.17 pertains only to the opening of accounts, not their closure.

The Court of Appeal affirmed, finding no reviewable error and agreeing that the word "open" means to start something, not to continue it indefinitely.

The appeal was dismissed with costs of $15,000 payable to the respondent.

Hydro One Networks Inc. applied for orders to adjust the dates of possession in Notices of Possession under the Expropriations Act, to allow the application to proceed in the absence of a representative of the estate of James Thomas Witzell, and to dispense with service on the estate of Witzell and Susan Carol Boyes.

The application concerned the Waasigan Transmission Line Project, a 360 km electricity transmission line project in Northwestern Ontario.

Hydro One sought to abbreviate the notice period by 32 days to allow construction to begin on schedule.

The court granted the relief sought, finding that adjustment was in the public interest and that no prejudice to landowners was demonstrated.

The applicant, Samer Bishay, sought an order under the Bank Act compelling the Bank of Montreal to reinstate his bank accounts, a trial on damages, and a Norwich Order for disclosure of information leading to the account closure.

The court found that s. 627.17 of the Bank Act only requires banks to open accounts under certain conditions, not to maintain them indefinitely, and that the common law right to terminate banking relationships on reasonable notice was not displaced.

The application was dismissed, including the request for a Norwich Order, as the applicant's claim was found to be speculative.

The defendant, Hydro One Networks Inc., moved for a temporary stay of an action brought by Nyon Oil Inc. and 1170367 Ontario Inc. regarding land ownership and rights to operate electricity transmission infrastructure.

The court considered the overlap and differences between the Superior Court action and a parallel Ontario Energy Board proceeding, ultimately granting a one-year stay to allow the Board to determine expropriation and related issues first.

The court found that the Board had exclusive jurisdiction over the ongoing operation of the transmission system and that a stay would avoid inconsistent findings and protect the public interest.

This endorsement addresses multiple motions to strike claims for contribution and indemnity brought by various Children's Aid Societies (CAS) against Dr. Gideon Koren and the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) in the context of the "Motherisk Cases." The court partially granted the motions, striking claims for contribution and indemnity based on the Negligence Act, as the CAS was not found liable to the original plaintiffs.

However, the court dismissed the motions to strike claims for contribution and indemnity based on breach of contract, finding it was not plain and obvious that such claims, including those relying on a principled exception to privity of contract, would fail.

HSC's claim was struck as unopposed.

One of Dr. Koren's crossclaims was struck with leave to amend to properly plead a contract claim.

The court also ordered consolidation of one of Dr. Koren's actions with a related M.M. Action.