Christopher Junior

This is a costs decision following an interim parenting order motion.

The court previously granted an interim parenting arrangement providing the applicant father with weekend and mid-week parenting time.

The respondent mother sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis, while the applicant sought no costs or alternatively costs in his favour.

The court found that neither party was successful on the motion, as neither proposed parenting schedule was adopted.

The court determined that success was divided due to the respondent's unreasonable and vacillating positions throughout the motion and the applicant's unsuccessful position stemming from family violence concerns involving his parents.

Accordingly, the court ordered that each party bear their own costs.

The applicant, Carolyn Liddy, brought a motion under Rule 30.10 for production of documents from a non-party lawyer, Jeffrey Streisfield, her former counsel in an underlying negligence action.

The documents sought included files received from previous counsel, work product, and invoices, which were deemed relevant to the current action concerning legal costs incurred to "repair" previous work.

Streisfield asserted a lawyer's lien over the documents due to unpaid accounts.

The court found that Liddy failed to establish that it would be unfair to proceed to trial without the documents, as her inability to obtain them appeared to stem from her unwillingness to pay Streisfield's outstanding account, and she had not brought a necessary motion under Rule 15.03(4) to determine the lien's existence and terms.

The motion for production was dismissed.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for leave to issue a Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL) concerning an agreement to purchase over 800 acres of land from the defendant.

The dispute arose from an alleged misrepresentation regarding the exact acreage of the land and issues related to a historic ship located on the property.

The court found that there was a triable issue regarding the plaintiffs' claim to an interest in the land, which is the first threshold for granting a CPL.

However, after balancing the equities, the court exercised its discretion to deny the CPL.

The denial was primarily based on the plaintiffs' significant delay in bringing the motion (almost three months after the scheduled closing date and awareness of a third-party purchaser), the existence of a third-party agreement for the sale of the land, and the greater harm and inconvenience that granting the CPL would cause to the defendant, effectively acting as an injunction and impeding the sale of a distressed asset.

The Bondfield Group, a major construction company, sought CCAA protection due to insolvency, over $1 billion in active contracts, and over 200 lawsuits.

The application was unopposed and resulted from extensive stakeholder negotiations.

The court granted an initial order for CCAA protection, including a stay of proceedings, approval of a tailored $8 million Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) facility funded by Zurich Insurance, an Administration Charge for professional fees, and a Directors' Charge for $3 million (excluding John Aquino).

The court emphasized the public interest in completing critical infrastructure projects and the preference for CCAA over receivership to preserve enterprise value.