Charles F. Scott

The defendant brought a motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act to dismiss a libel action commenced by the plaintiff, the former Chair of the Toronto Port Authority.

The action arose from a statement attributed to the defendant in a magazine article about Porter Airlines.

The court found the statement related to a matter of public interest and the plaintiff failed to demonstrate reasonable grounds to believe the proceeding had substantial merit or that the defendant had no valid defence.

The action was dismissed, and the defendant was awarded full indemnity costs of $80,000, but the court declined to award damages for bad faith.

The plaintiffs, representing the estate of a deceased real estate developer, brought a motion for further documentary discovery from the defendants, representing the estate of his deceased business partner.

The dispute centered on the calculation of a 'net profit share' under a 2003 agreement.

The plaintiffs sought extensive financial records to challenge the defendants' auditor's valuation, which found a net loss.

Applying the principle of proportionality under the Rules of Civil Procedure, the Master ordered partial production of the requested documents, limiting the scope to the specific project in dispute rather than all related projects.

This endorsement addresses the determination of full indemnity costs following contempt proceedings.

The plaintiff, Sycor, claimed $280,530.83, while the defendants proposed $216,843.46.

The court reiterated that full indemnity costs cover all reasonably incurred fees and disbursements, not extra services.

The defendants challenged the hourly rates of the plaintiff's counsel and discrepancies in billed hours.

The court found the plaintiff's counsel's rates reasonable for Toronto's Commercial List, dismissing the argument that lower defence counsel rates should be determinative.

The court also rejected the use of outdated Civil Rules Committee cost guidelines for full indemnity costs.

A deduction of $22,000 was made for discrepancies in billed hours for the liability phase, but time spent on a preceding judicial settlement conference was deemed reasonably incurred.

Ultimately, the defendants were ordered to pay Sycor costs of $258,530.83 on a joint and several basis.

In the penalty phase of a civil contempt motion, the plaintiff sought to strike the defendants' pleadings, punitive damages, fines, and costs after the defendants were found to have intentionally failed to produce sales invoices and emails, and swore a false affidavit of documents.

The court declined to strike the pleadings or award punitive damages, noting the documents were eventually produced.

Instead, the court ordered the defendants to pay fines of $7,500 and $5,000 to the plaintiff, costs thrown away of approximately $20,000, and the costs of the contempt motion on a full indemnity basis.

Following an earlier finding that a defendant knowingly assisted in a cover-up of the truth by failing to ensure production of sales invoices required by court order, the court determined whether that conduct constituted contempt.

The court held that aiding and abetting a breach of a court order can ground contempt and applied the aiding and abetting framework to the defendant's omissions and knowledge.

Unsworn submissions about counsel conflict, lack of intent, and apology did not displace the prior factual findings.

The defendant was held in contempt, with a further hearing directed on the appropriate relief.

Following a successful motion in which the action against one defendant was dismissed for lack of a real and substantial connection with Ontario, the court determined the appropriate costs award.

The successful defendant sought partial indemnity costs exceeding $25,000, arguing the motion involved significant complexity, a substantial damages claim, and an extensive evidentiary record.

The plaintiffs contended the cross-examination conducted was proper and that a lower costs award was reasonable.

Applying the discretionary principles governing costs under the Courts of Justice Act and Rule 57.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the court fixed a fair and reasonable amount rather than awarding actual costs incurred.

Partial indemnity costs of $21,000 inclusive of disbursements and taxes were awarded to the successful defendant.

Following the dismissal of the foreign tobacco defendants' jurisdictional appeals, the Court of Appeal determined the costs of the appeals.

The appellants argued that costs should be capped at $100,000, asserting that the Crown treated the five appeals as one by filing a common factum.

The Court rejected this argument, finding no $100,000 ceiling exists for costs awards in the Court of Appeal.

Given the complexity, the $50 billion stakes, and the necessity of responding to five separate appeals, the Court fixed the Crown's partial indemnity costs at $237,332.50, apportioned between the BAT and RJR appellants.

The defendant, a resident and chief architect of the Ministry of Works and Engineering of Bermuda, brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' conspiracy action against him on the grounds of state immunity and lack of jurisdiction simpliciter.

The plaintiffs, former Bermudian government officials, alleged the defendant conspired with an Ontario architect to plant altered cheques in government files to falsely implicate them in a kickback scheme.

The court found the defendant was not immune from suit due to the commercial activity exception under the State Immunity Act.

However, the court dismissed the action against the moving defendant, concluding that Ontario lacked jurisdiction simpliciter as the plaintiffs failed to establish a real and substantial connection to the province.

Ontario sued foreign and domestic tobacco manufacturers under the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, 2009 to recover health care costs.

Six foreign defendants brought a motion to stay or dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction, which was dismissed.

The foreign defendants appealed.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the statutory claim was analogous to a tort committed in Ontario, establishing a presumptive connecting factor under the Van Breda framework.

The Court also upheld the motion judge's findings that Ontario established a good arguable case and affirmed the costs award.

The plaintiffs, senior members of the government of Bermuda, brought a motion to strike certain paragraphs of the defendant's Statement of Defence in a defamation action.

The plaintiffs alleged the defendant architect falsified cheques to make it appear they received kickbacks from a construction project.

The impugned paragraphs detailed the history of the construction project, including the selection of the contractor and ongoing payment disputes.

The court dismissed the motion for the most part, finding the paragraphs were relevant and had potential probative value in defending against the allegations of fraud, though two specific portions were struck on consent.

Following dismissal of jurisdiction motions brought by several foreign tobacco companies in a health care cost recovery action, the court determined costs.

The unsuccessful moving parties argued that earlier evidentiary and procedural steps constituted separate proceedings and sought substantial costs for those steps.

The court rejected that characterization, holding that all preliminary steps formed part of the overall jurisdiction challenge and that distributive costs awards based on success on individual steps should be avoided.

Applying Rule 57.01 factors and general costs principles, the court found the responding party was the successful party and entitled to costs, subject to reductions reflecting partial success on certain evidentiary and motion issues.

The court awarded partial indemnity costs of $425,000 plus disbursements, allocating liability between two groups of moving defendants.

The Crown brought an action under the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act against several domestic and foreign tobacco companies, claiming $50 billion for health care costs related to tobacco disease.

Six foreign defendants brought motions to set aside service ex juris and stay or dismiss the action, arguing the Ontario court lacked jurisdiction simpliciter.

The court dismissed the motions, finding that the Crown had established a good arguable case that the foreign defendants conspired and acted in concert to commit tobacco-related wrongs, establishing a real and substantial connection to Ontario.

The TD defendants sought leave to appeal a motion judge's order dismissing their motion to strike the plaintiff's claims.

The plaintiff alleged that the TD defendants transferred her share of lottery winnings out of the jurisdiction at her ex-boyfriend's request, despite knowing of her interest and a court preservation order.

The Divisional Court granted leave to appeal solely on the issue of whether the plaintiff's claim for a declaration of contempt of court should be struck, finding reason to doubt the correctness of allowing such a claim in a civil action.

Leave to appeal was denied for the negligence, breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, and preservation order validity issues.

In a complex CCAA restructuring of Stelco Inc., four appeals were brought regarding the distribution of assets among creditors.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's findings that Senior Debt Holders could enforce subordination and turnover provisions against Noteholders via trust principles, and that post-filing interest was payable.

However, the Court reversed the motion judge on two key issues: it found that a massive IT outsourcing contract was not in the 'ordinary course of business', thereby elevating its assignee to Senior Debt status, and it ruled that the distributed securities must be valued at the 'Plan value' ($5.50 per share) rather than the post-emergence market value.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Superior Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of a termination clause in an agreement.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the termination clause to be crystal clear and fully agreeing with the motion judge's analysis and conclusion.

The defendants in a proposed class action appealed a motions judge's decision refusing to compel the proposed plaintiffs to answer questions about an alternative compensation scheme.

The Divisional Court held that 'procedure' in s. 5(1)(d) of the Class Proceedings Act includes alternative dispute resolution methods outside the court system.

However, the court dismissed the appeal, finding that whether an alternative method is preferable is an objective determination for the motions judge, and little is gained by asking the proposed plaintiffs for their opinion on the matter.

The appellant bank, owner of a commercial building, installed diesel-powered electrical generators for back-up power.

The appellant applied for a declaration that the generators were exempt from consumption or sales tax under the Excise Tax Act, arguing it was a manufacturer or producer of goods (electricity).

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that the appellant manufactured electricity when its generators were in operation and that the Act did not restrict the definition of manufacturing to exclude such operations.