Hannah John McConnell Gladstone

The court considered an application by the estate trustee of Laurette Marie Patriquin for directions regarding the administration of a bequest to a charitable institution that no longer existed at the time of the testator’s death.

The court applied the cy-près doctrine and directed that the bequest intended for The Shriners Hospital for Children in Minneapolis, Minnesota, be paid instead to Shriners Children’s Twin Cities, as its successor.

The court also addressed costs, awarding $3,000 to Shriners Children’s Twin Cities and $10,000 to the applicant, both payable from the estate, after considering proportionality and the necessity of the application.

The Estate Trustee sought court direction regarding the residue of a will, as the named charitable beneficiary, Paroisse Sainte-Therese-de-L’Enfant-Jesus, had dissolved before the testator's death.

The court applied the cy-près doctrine, finding a general charitable intention on the part of the testator.

The residue was directed to La Fabrique de la Paroisse Sainte-Sophie, which continued the work of the original parish the testator had strong ties to, thereby honouring the testator's wishes.

The applicants, Michael and Patrick Berrey, as estate trustees for the estates of Keith Bertram Berrey and Claire Yvonne Berrey, brought applications to pass accounts for both estates and to remove Dale Victor Berrey as an estate trustee.

Dale Victor Berrey, also an estate trustee, filed objections to the accounts and refused to consent to the payment of outstanding Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) debts, causing significant delays and accruing interest and penalties.

The court dismissed Dale's request for an adjournment, rejected most of his objections to the estate accounts, ordered the payment of CRA debts from trust funds, and removed Dale Victor Berrey as estate trustee for both estates due to his uncooperative conduct and breach of fiduciary duty.

Costs were awarded against Dale personally and partially from the estates.

The moving party brought a motion for directions challenging the validity of his late mother's 2006 will, alleging lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence by his brother, the responding party.

The responding party brought a cross-motion to set aside or vary a preservation order previously granted without notice.

The court found that the moving party met the minimal evidentiary threshold required to call the will's validity into question and granted the order for directions.

The court also varied the preservation order to narrow its scope, finding that while the original order was too broad, the assets in dispute met the test for preservation.

The accused, a former financial planner, was convicted of defrauding 41 victims of approximately $10 million through a Ponzi scheme over a 2.5-year period.

The court found numerous aggravating factors, including the large scale of the fraud, breach of trust, and devastating impact on vulnerable victims, with no mitigating factors.

The accused was sentenced to the maximum 14 years' imprisonment, less 10 years' pre-sentence custody credit (including enhanced credit for harsh conditions).

The court also ordered restitution of $10,887,885 and a fine in lieu of forfeiture in the same amount.

The accused, a former financial advisor, was charged with fraud and theft over $5,000 after collecting approximately $12 million from 41 investors for supposedly low-risk real estate and corporate bond investments.

Instead of investing the funds as promised, the accused operated a Ponzi scheme, diverting the money to pay spousal support, fund his failing businesses, and make partial repayments to earlier investors.

The court found the accused's testimony to be entirely lacking in credibility and rejected the defence's forensic accounting evidence.

The accused was found guilty of fraud over $5,000, with the theft charge conditionally stayed.

The accused, an inmate at a correctional centre, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after viciously attacking his cellmate while intoxicated on 'home brew'.

The victim suffered significant injuries including facial fractures.

The court weighed the multiplicity of aggravating factors, including the accused's prior record and the vulnerability of the confined victim, against the mitigating factor of the guilty plea.

Applying the principle of totality, the court imposed a sentence of 4 years consecutive to the sentence the accused was already serving, less 18 months credit for pre-sentence custody, resulting in a net sentence of 2.5 years consecutive.