2 total
Application for judicial review quashed as it primarily concerned commercial interests and applicant lacked standing.
The applicant sought an adjournment of its application for judicial review to develop new evidence.
The Divisional Court addressed preliminary issues and exercised its discretion under the Judicial Review Procedure Act to decline to hear the application.
The court found the matter was not a review of a quasi-judicial decision, primarily concerned commercial interests, would require the court to perform a trial function, and that the applicant lacked standing.
The application was quashed without a determination on the merits.
Security for costs refused where impecunious plaintiffs had potentially meritorious claim.
The defendants appealed a master's order dismissing their motions for security for costs against corporate plaintiffs who had ceased operations and lacked assets in Ontario.
The defendants argued that the plaintiffs were not impecunious because the principals had personal assets, including an unencumbered home and retirement savings.
The court held that the master did not err in concluding the plaintiffs were genuinely impecunious and that requiring security would force abandonment of the claim.
The court accepted that the principals' assets were effectively constrained by debts, potential tax liabilities, and the need to fund the litigation.
Because the claim was not plainly devoid of merit, the master properly exercised discretion to refuse security for costs.
