D. Lees

The appellant former landlord appealed a Landlord and Tenant Board decision ordering her to pay damages for a bad faith eviction, arguing she was denied natural justice.

The initial hearing proceeded in her absence after she was served by mail at the rental unit, despite the Board and the respondent knowing she lived in Florida for most of the year.

The Divisional Court held that proceeding with the hearing when the Board knew the appellant had no actual notice constituted a denial of natural justice.

The Board's decisions were set aside and the matter was remitted for a rehearing.

The applicants, former volunteer board members of a charity, were unsuccessful in their application to set aside an election.

The respondents sought substantial indemnity costs of nearly $100,000, including costs against the applicants' solicitor personally.

The court rejected the argument that the applicants' volunteer status immunized them from costs, but found the respondents' pre-litigation conduct warranted a reduction.

Costs were fixed on a partial indemnity scale at $30,000 plus disbursements, and the issue of the solicitor's personal liability was reserved.

The applicants, former board members of a hospice charity, sought judicial review and leave to appeal several rulings made by a court-appointed arbitrator regarding a disputed board election.

They also sought to set aside the election results based on alleged irregularities.

The court held that judicial review is not available for decisions of a private consensual arbitrator.

The court further found that the applicants were out of time to appeal most of the arbitral awards under the Arbitration Act, and regardless, the arbitrator made no errors of law.

Finally, the court declined to set aside the election results, finding that the alleged irregularities were minor and did not go to the heart of the electoral process.