Jana Smith

The plaintiff, Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 1049, brought a motion to strike the defendant's statement of defence for failure to retain counsel, or in the alternative, to compel them to do so, pursuant to Rule 15.01(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The defendant, a corporation, was represented by its sole officer and director, who had been disbarred.

The court found that the defendant failed to provide sufficient evidence of authorization or financial inability to retain counsel, and that the proposed representative's past professional misconduct raised concerns about protecting corporate interests.

The motion was granted, ordering the corporation to retain counsel within 30 days, failing which its statement of defence would be struck, and awarded costs to the plaintiff and third party.

The plaintiff brought a motion seeking an order requiring the defendants to respond to written requests for information pursuant to section 39 of the Construction Act.

The defendants argued that the requests were improperly served by fax and opposed costs.

The court validated the service by fax under Rule 16.08, finding the documents came to the defendants' notice, and ordered the defendants to provide the requested information and pay the plaintiff's costs of the motion.