C. Davis

Following a judgment in favour of the landlord regarding the termination of a commercial lease upon a request to assign, the landlord sought costs of $15,098.45 on a substantial indemnity basis or $9,928.16 on a partial indemnity basis.

The tenant argued that the case involved a novel issue with no prior Ontario case law and suggested costs be limited to $5,000.

The court found that while the landlord was successful and entitled to costs, the tenant had a good argument on a novel issue.

The court fixed costs at $5,000, noting the tenant's failure to file its own bill of costs diminished its argument on reasonable expectations.

The applicant sought an order under s. 100 of the Courts of Justice Act to vest an easement benefiting the respondents’ property so that a right-of-way could be registered in connection with a municipal site plan agreement and development project.

The respondents refused to execute the authorization required under the Land Titles Act to register the easement.

The court held that s. 100 does not confer standalone jurisdiction to vest property interests and can only be used where the applicant has an independent legal entitlement to the property interest.

Because the applicant had no claim to ownership or possession of the respondents’ lands and was effectively attempting to impose a benefit on an unwilling landowner, the court lacked jurisdiction to grant the order.

The application was dismissed with costs.