Christopher Carl Selby

The defendant brought a motion to stay a defamation action, arguing the Ontario Superior Court of Justice lacked jurisdiction or that another forum was more convenient.

The plaintiff, a foreign corporation, sued the defendant, a Quebec resident, over blog posts accessible in Ontario.

The court applied the real and substantial connection test, finding that the tort of defamation crystallizes where the material is read.

Since the blog was accessed and republished via Twitter in Ontario, the tort was committed in Ontario.

The court dismissed the motion, concluding the defendant failed to show another forum was clearly more appropriate.

The applicant, as financial agent for a federal nomination contestant, sought a court order extending the deadline to file a nomination campaign return under the Canada Elections Act.

The court held that s. 478.34 required two mandatory preconditions: a prior application to the Chief Electoral Officer and a court application brought within two weeks of the rejection or expiry of that extension.

Because neither precondition was met, the court found it lacked jurisdiction to grant the requested relief.

The court also rejected any residual common law discretion to extend the statutory deadline, distinguishing earlier authority and relying on subsequent appellate law on statutory time limits.