Chantal Laroche

The appellants, defendants in a proposed class action arising from the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, appealed the dismissal of their anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision, finding no reversible error in his conclusions that there were grounds to believe the plaintiffs' claims for private and public nuisance had substantial merit, that the defendants had no valid defence, and that the public interest in permitting the proceeding to continue outweighed the public interest in protecting the defendants' expression.

The appeal was dismissed.

The plaintiff sublessee brought an action against the defendant sublessor and its real estate broker, alleging they fraudulently concealed a latent defect regarding excessive noise from idling trains at the adjacent Union Station.

The defendants brought motions for summary judgment to dismiss the action.

The court granted the motions, finding that the train noise was a patent defect, not a latent one, and there was no evidence of a conspiracy to conceal it.

Furthermore, the plaintiff had acknowledged the proximity to the train station and agreed to an exculpatory clause in the lease that shielded the defendants from liability for train noise.