David Martin

East West Investment Management Corporation sought an order to pay funds into court or a declaration that its continued management of funds for Thomas Higgins and the TRH Foundation did not contravene the Criminal Code, due to a risk that the funds might constitute proceeds of crime from a German tax fraud scheme involving Maple Bank.

The court, exercising its inherent and supervisory jurisdiction over trusts, granted the order allowing East West to pay CDN$4,398,168 into court, with the consent of the respondents, to mitigate East West's risk of liability under money laundering laws.

The applicants agreed to purchase a property and paid a $40,000 deposit.

The transaction failed to close on the scheduled date due to existing encumbrances on title, including mortgages and a caution from a previous failed sale.

The respondent, who had assumed the seller's rights, attempted to extend the closing date but was unable to provide clear title.

The applicants refused further extensions and demanded the return of their deposit.

The court found that the respondent was not in a position to convey substantially what the applicants contracted for, as the property remained subject to encumbrances.

The court declared the respondent in breach of the purchase agreement and ordered the return of the deposit to the applicants.

This is a trial decision on a voir dire regarding the admissibility of expert evidence in a prosecution under the Occupational Health and Safety Act arising from a stage collapse at a concert venue that resulted in a fatality.

The defendant Live Nation Canada Inc. challenged the qualification of two Ministry of Labour engineers to provide expert opinion evidence on the cause of the stage collapse.

The court found that both experts met the threshold requirement to testify, applying the test established in White Burgess v. Abbott and Haliburton Co. The court rejected arguments that the experts' involvement in the investigation, their employment relationship with the Ministry of Labour, and their participation in interviews with defendants undermined their independence and impartiality.

The accused was charged with impaired driving and over 80 milligrams of alcohol in blood.

The sole issue at trial was whether the Crown had proven that the accused was driving his vehicle on October 4, 2013, in Burlington.

The Crown called witnesses who observed the accused driving his car away from a strip club in the early morning hours.

The accused testified that a stranger who resembled him drove the vehicle instead.

The court found the accused guilty of impaired driving based on credible eyewitness identification and rejected the accused's testimony as unreliable and fantastical.

A one-year driving prohibition was imposed.

The applicant provided funds to purchase a condominium but placed the title in the respondent's name to avoid capital gains taxes, based on an oral agreement that the respondent would hold it in trust.

The respondent later claimed he purchased the condominium with his own funds and refused to transfer title.

The court found the applicant's evidence credible and supported by banking records, while the respondent's evidence was contradictory and lacked documentary support.

The court held that a purchase money resulting trust arose, which was not rebutted.

The court also found that the doctrine of part performance applied, overcoming the Statute of Frauds requirement for a written contract.

The court declared the applicant the legal and beneficial owner of the condominium and ordered the respondent to transfer title and pay outstanding amounts.