Douglas J. Los

The Court of Appeal for Ontario issued an endorsement on costs following an appeal.

The court determined that costs should be awarded against the respondent Sudbury Downs Holding, as it stood in an adversarial relationship to the appellant, unlike the Ontario Racing Commission.

Costs were fixed on a partial indemnity scale for the application for judicial review, the motion for leave to appeal, and the appeal itself, totaling $42,880 in fees plus disbursements and GST.

The appellants appealed a jury verdict dismissing their crossclaim against the respondent trailer manufacturer following a fatal motor vehicle accident.

The jury found the accident was caused solely by the negligence of the appellant driver and transport company.

On appeal, the appellants argued the verdict was unreasonable and challenged several evidentiary rulings, including the admission of a deceased driver's statement and log book entries, and the exclusion of coroner's inquest findings.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the jury's verdict was amply supported by the evidence and the trial judge made no errors in his evidentiary rulings or jury instructions.