Reema Shafi

The defendant Ministry of Transportation brought a motion seeking orders requiring the plaintiff to complete a further future cost of care assessment at her home and to attend a defence psychological examination under Rule 33 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and s. 105 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The action arose from a motor vehicle accident and was scheduled for trial in less than three months.

The court held that the moving party failed to demonstrate that additional occupational therapy assessment time or a further psychological examination was necessary to ensure trial fairness.

The existing medical evidence and prior defence examinations were sufficient to permit the defence to respond to the plaintiff’s claims.

The motion was dismissed, although leave was granted for the defence psychiatrist to provide a limited supplemental report responding to a recent expert report.

The defendant sought leave to appeal an interlocutory order that permitted a student-at-law to be present as a passive observer during a defence in-home future care costs assessment of the plaintiff, and that denied the defence expert's request to conduct a functional capacity evaluation.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal, finding that the motions judge properly exercised his discretion under Rule 33.

The court held there were no conflicting decisions on the matter and no reason to doubt the correctness of the order to warrant granting leave under Rule 62.02(4).