Douglas Treilhard

The Crown sought indemnification for reasonable defence costs from the respondent pursuant to a prior declaration.

The respondent argued that because the Crown used salaried in-house counsel, its costs were purely notional and it suffered no actual loss.

The court rejected this argument, finding that the Crown incurs real costs for salaried lawyers, analogous to the statutory recognition in section 131(2) of the Courts of Justice Act.

Applying the nine factors from Cohen v. Kealey and Blaney, the court fixed the reasonable defence costs at $30,000 plus disbursements, and awarded $4,000 for the costs of the application.

The applicant, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, sought a declaration that the respondent, Turn-Key Construction Inc., had a contractual duty to defend Ontario in an action commenced by a third party, G. Prezio Electric Limited.

The underlying action arose from Turn-Key's subcontractor severing a major electrical power line during contract performance, leading Ontario to engage Prezio for emergency repairs.

The court found that the indemnity clause in the commercial contract between Ontario and Turn-Key created a duty to defend, as the third-party claim was "based upon, occasioned by or attributable to" the subcontractor's actions.

The application was granted, and Turn-Key was ordered to pay Ontario's defence costs.

The defendant insurer moved for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's claim for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

The plaintiff was injured while a passenger in his spouse's vehicle, which was allegedly taken without consent by the uninsured driver.

The insurer argued that coverage was precluded because the vehicle was owned by the plaintiff's spouse.

The court found the statutory and contractual definitions of 'uninsured automobile' to be ambiguous in these circumstances.

Applying principles of contractual interpretation, the court construed the ambiguity against the insurer and dismissed the motion for summary judgment.