Breanna Needham

The corporate plaintiff, 2505805 Ontario Inc. (the "Consultant"), brought a motion to enforce a contractual indemnification provision in a consulting agreement, seeking advance payment of legal fees.

The defendants argued the motion was an improper attempt at partial summary judgment and that corporate indemnity statutes (CBCA/OBCA) applied, requiring the consultant to have acted honestly and in good faith.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the relief sought constituted partial summary judgment on issues central to the main action, which is generally discouraged by the Court of Appeal.

Furthermore, the court held that the corporate indemnity statutes did not apply because the Consultant was a corporation, not an individual officer or director, and therefore not subject to those specific statutory provisions.

The plaintiff consultant brought a motion to enforce a contractual indemnification provision for the advance payment of legal fees by the defendant companies.

The motion was brought before the close of pleadings.

The court found that the corporate indemnity provisions of the CBCA and OBCA did not apply because the consultant was a corporation, not an individual officer or director.

However, the court dismissed the motion, concluding that the relief sought effectively amounted to a partial summary judgment or a mandatory injunction, and the plaintiff had not complied with the requirements for either.

The trustee in bankruptcy brought a motion for a declaration that the bankrupt's interest in two properties, held in joint tenancy with his wife, were assets of the estate.

The bankrupt and his wife claimed the properties were held in trust for their children, relying on trust documents allegedly created in 1995 and 2004.

The trustee introduced uncontradicted expert evidence proving the fonts used in the documents did not exist on the dates they were allegedly signed.

The court found the trust documents were backdated and the trusts were shams, or alternatively fraudulent conveyances, designed to defeat creditors.

The declarations sought by the trustee were granted.

The defendants, BNT Canada, L.P., BNT Canada GP, Inc., and Bechtel Power Corporation (collectively "Bechtel"), brought a motion to transfer the action from Walkerton (Central West Region) to the Toronto Region under Rule 13.1.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The plaintiffs, Bruce Power L.P. and Bruce Power Inc. (collectively "Bruce Power"), opposed the motion.

The court applied a holistic approach to the factors enumerated in Rule 13.1.02(2)(b), finding that the convenience of the parties, witnesses, and the court, along with advantages for securing a just, expeditious, and least expensive determination, and the availability of judges and court facilities, favored Toronto.

The court concluded that Bechtel had met the onus of demonstrating that Toronto was "significantly better" and that the transfer was in the interest of justice.

The motion to transfer the action to Toronto was granted.