Cynthia Lynn MacKenzie

The appellant challenged an application judge's determination of liability and damages for failure to timely discharge a mortgage, which allegedly deprived the respondent of financing for a secondary property purchase.

The appeal raised four issues: causation (respondent's reliance on equity), remoteness (loss on secondary transaction), mitigation (promptness of court application), and date of damage assessment.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming the application judge's findings that the loss was foreseeable given the appellant's knowledge of the respondent's real estate business, that the respondent adequately mitigated, and that the date of assessment was appropriately chosen.

The applicant father sought a temporary order to vary a final parenting order, requesting a change in the children's primary residence from the respondent mother to himself.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer supported the father's motion, citing chronic dysfunction and conflict in the mother's household impacting the children's well-being.

The court applied the two-stage test for varying parenting orders, including the stringent threshold for temporary variations of final orders, and found a material change in circumstances.

Giving significant weight to the children's clear and consistent views, the court determined that changing primary residence to the father was in the children's best interests to address the intolerable situation and prevent further harm.