Chantelle Colangelo

The applicant sought statutory accident benefits following a motor vehicle accident, claiming catastrophic impairment under Criterion 7.

The respondent denied the benefits.

The Tribunal found the applicant was not catastrophically impaired, as her Whole Person Impairment rating was 48%, falling short of the 55% threshold.

The Tribunal rejected the WPI ratings for incontinence and headaches provided by the respondent's own expert, finding the incontinence was pre-existing and did not worsen post-accident.

Claims for psychological services, case management, interest, and a section 10 award were also dismissed.

The defendants brought a motion seeking a ruling that serving a subpoena on a doctor would allow them to receive the doctor's entire clinical notes and records without the doctor being sworn or called as a witness.

The plaintiffs opposed this.

The court dismissed the defendants' motion, holding that Rule 53.04(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure requires a witness's attendance and testimony at trial, and that a subpoena cannot be used to bypass established discovery processes or to obtain documentary disclosure without the witness being subject to cross-examination.

The court emphasized that such a practice would lead to "trial by ambush" and discourage early settlement.

The defendants brought a motion for leave to admit an expert report from Dr. Armstrong concerning the plaintiff's life expectancy in a personal injury action.

The court found that while the defendants provided a reasonable explanation for the late delivery of the report and that the plaintiffs were not prejudiced by the delay, the report itself was inadmissible.

The report failed to comply with Rule 53.03(2.1)6 by not providing a methodology or listing all relied-upon documents.

Furthermore, its probative value was deemed very low due to the expert's inappropriate analytical approach (life insurance vs. annuity) and use of general population statistics without proper explanation.

Finally, Dr. Armstrong was not qualified to provide a medical diagnosis as he had not been a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2010.

The motion for leave was dismissed, and the report was ruled inadmissible.

The applicant sought statutory accident benefits following a 2019 motor vehicle accident, claiming catastrophic impairment due to a mental and behavioural disorder, along with attendant care, home modifications, and other medical benefits.

The Licence Appeal Tribunal found the applicant was not a credible witness and failed to establish that her impairments were caused by the accident, noting significant pre-existing physical and psychological conditions.

The Tribunal concluded the applicant did not meet the criteria for catastrophic impairment and dismissed all claims for disputed benefits, finding them either not reasonable and necessary, duplicative, or unrelated to the accident.