Jaye Hooper

The applicants sought adverse possession of a 16-acre parcel lying within adjoining owners' registered boundaries, relying on a fence line, historical cattle pasturing, and seasonal hunting use between 1955 and 1965.

Applying the adverse possession framework under s. 5(1) of the Real Property Limitations Act, the court found open, notorious, and continuous use during the relevant ten-year period, but held the claim failed because the applicants did not prove the use was adverse to the title holder or establish a shared mutual mistake about the boundary.

The court also rejected the submission that a payment under the respondents' title insurance policy affected the merits of the possessory title analysis.

The application was dismissed, the cross-application was granted, the respondents were declared to hold absolute title without restriction, and the applicants were ordered to remove their chattels from the disputed lands at their own cost.

A motor vehicle accident occurred on April 25, 2015, on Scenic Road in Renfrew County involving two vehicles traveling in opposite directions, resulting in serious injury to a passenger.

Damages were resolved prior to trial.

The sole issue at trial was whether the driver of the oncoming vehicle (Prince) bore any liability for the accident.

The defendant driver (Vandenheuvel) admitted to crossing the centre line.

The court found that the plaintiff failed to establish any liability against Prince, dismissing the action against him.

The court found that Prince was driving in his own lane at a reasonable speed and took appropriate evasive action upon discovering the oncoming vehicle.

This costs decision follows a motor vehicle collision case in which the plaintiff, Ronald Busch, suffered serious injuries and sued the defendant, Cristy Mitton.

Mitton brought a third-party claim against the Ministry of Transportation for Ontario and Carillion Canada Inc. The main action settled for $210,000 plus interest, with costs to be determined.

The court found the Ministry's refusal to accept the settlement as reasonable to be entirely unreasonable, resulting in additional costs.

The court awarded the plaintiff $282,251.79 in costs and the third parties $155,739.31, with reductions applied due to lack of evidence of actual legal rates charged.

The decision clarifies the approach to costs where third-party claims and late settlements are involved.

The Township of Greater Madawaska brought a motion to bifurcate the trial, seeking to separate the determination of an easement from the remaining issues, or alternatively, to separate liability from damages.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that bifurcation would not save time or costs, would prejudice the property owners, and that the issues were not clearly severable, particularly regarding punitive damages.

The court awarded partial indemnity costs to the property owners.

The trial concerned a third-party claim by the defendant, Cristy Mitton, against the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and its contractor, Carillion Canada Inc., alleging negligent winter maintenance of Highway 41.

Mitton had previously settled the main action with the plaintiff, Ronald Busch, admitting 1% liability.

The court found that Highway 41 was in a state of non-repair due to being partially snow-packed, and this condition caused Mitton to lose control.

However, the MTO successfully discharged its onus by proving its winter maintenance operations were reasonable, including the decision to use salt despite low temperatures, as it was a judgment call aimed at achieving bare pavement.

The court dismissed the third-party claim, finding no liability on the MTO.

The defendants brought a motion to set aside a Mareva injunction freezing their cryptocurrency assets, which was initially granted without notice in a proposed class action alleging fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation in the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The court found that the plaintiff had made full and frank disclosure and met the test to continue the injunction against the corporate defendants and one individual defendant, citing a strong prima facie case of fraudulent misrepresentation and a serious risk of asset dissipation.

The injunction was set aside for one individual defendant due to insufficient evidence of personal involvement.

The court also exercised its discretion to waive the undertaking for damages for the representative plaintiff, recognizing the public policy benefits of class actions.

This motion for summary judgment concerned an oppression claim brought by a condominium unit owner against the Condominium Corporation, its property manager, and superintendent.

The owner alleged oppressive conduct stemming primarily from the Corporation's decision to charge him for remediation costs after he left eggs cooking unattended, leading to smoke damage, and subsequently registering a lien on his unit for unpaid common expenses, which ultimately resulted in the power of sale of his home.

The owner also raised ancillary claims regarding cleaning product contracts, parking, and water leaks.

The court found that the Corporation acted reasonably and within its statutory powers in remediating the damage and registering the lien.

It was determined that the owner's own negligence and unreasonable refusal to mitigate his losses were the cause of his home's sale.

The court dismissed all of the owner's claims, granting summary judgment in favour of the Corporation.

The plaintiffs sought a temporary injunction to enforce non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements against a former shareholder, alleging breach of contract and misuse of confidential information.

The court dismissed the injunction motion, finding insufficient evidence of irreparable harm and that the balance of convenience favored the defendants.

The court noted that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate actual breach or imminent harm, and that the requested relief was an overreach that would unfairly impact the defendant's livelihood.

A 17-year-old student, Josh Alexander, sought to appeal suspension and exclusion decisions by his school principal to the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board.

The Education Act requires a parent or guardian to appeal for a student of his age unless the student has withdrawn from parental control.

Josh asserted he had withdrawn from parental control, a position supported by his parents, but the School Board refused him standing, citing insufficient objective evidence.

The court found that Josh Alexander had indeed withdrawn from parental control as of December 22, 2022, and therefore had the necessary standing to advance his appeals to the School Board.

The decision clarified that financial independence is not a prerequisite for withdrawal from parental control, especially when parents voluntarily continue to support their independent adult children.

The applicant sought a declaration of a prescriptive easement over the respondent's property for access to a rear parking lot, which was necessary for the rezoning of her mixed-use building to fully residential.

The respondent denied the existence of the driveway and the easement.

The court found that the applicant successfully established the requirements for a prescriptive easement under section 31 of the Real Property Limitations Act, including continuous, open, peaceful, and non-permissive use for the requisite twenty-year period prior to the property's conversion to Land Titles in 1999.

The court explicitly disbelieved the respondent's evidence regarding the driveway's existence.

The application was granted, and the Land Registrar was directed to amend property records to reflect the easement.

This was a motion for summary judgment to enforce a settlement agreement.

The respondents argued the agreement should be set aside due to duress, misrepresentation, and mistake of fact, contending a full hearing was required.

The court found the matter suitable for summary judgment under Rule 20 and Hryniak v. Mauldin.

The court dismissed the respondents' arguments, finding insufficient evidence for duress, no fundamental mistake regarding the agreement's terms (including CPP, EI, and taxes), and no basis for negligent misrepresentation.

Summary judgment was granted to the moving party, enforcing the settlement agreement, and substantial indemnity costs were awarded against the respondents.

The respondent/moving party, Mr. Godin, brought an interim motion to terminate spousal support payable to the applicant/responding party, Ms. Vesters.

Ms. Vesters argued that the issues required a full hearing and could not be determined solely on a written record.

The court dismissed the interim motion, finding insufficient evidence to determine the appropriate relief, particularly regarding Mr. Godin's retirement, Ms. Vesters' earning capacity, and the valuation of pensions to address "double-dipping" concerns.

A full hearing was deemed necessary.

The Municipality of Mississippi Mills brought an application seeking a declaration that Steven Maynard is a vexatious litigant under ss. 140(1)(a) & (b) of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.

C.43, due to his persistent and groundless court proceedings and vexatious conduct.

The Municipality sought orders to stay pending actions and prevent further proceedings without leave.

Maynard denied his actions were vexatious, claiming to act as a responsible citizen ensuring municipal compliance with planning laws.

The court granted the application, finding Maynard to be a vexatious litigant, and imposed orders to stay existing proceedings and require leave for future actions, with a specific exclusion for a slip-and-fall small claims case.

The applicants sought to prevent the Township of Wollaston from selling a parcel of land, arguing it was subject to a charitable trust established by a will and, alternatively, that the sale was ultra vires as not properly authorized by by-law.

The court found that no charitable trust was created as certainty of intention was not met, meaning the Township held the land in fee simple.

However, the court agreed that the Township's decision to sell the property was ultra vires because it was not authorized by a specific by-law, rendering the agreement of purchase and sale null and void.

The court noted the Township could rectify this by passing a proper by-law.

Due to mixed success, no costs were awarded.

The defendant, Hala Tabl, brought a motion under Rule 21 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to strike the plaintiff's statement of claim.

The plaintiff, "The Kingdom of Heaven Found a Sean," purported to be an "express trust organization" operated by Sean von Dehn.

The court found that the plaintiff lacked legal capacity as it was not a natural person, a corporation, or a body granted capacity by legislation.

Consequently, the statement of claim was struck without leave to amend for the stated plaintiff.

The court also noted that certain paragraphs of the claim would have been struck as patently ridiculous and a collateral attack on a prior court order, even if the claim had been brought by Sean von Dehn personally.

Costs were awarded against Sean von Dehn personally.

This endorsement addresses costs following the dismissal of an urgent injunction application.

The court considered three hearings: the initial injunction application, a hearing regarding the respondent's breach of undertaking, and a hearing requested by the respondent to vary an interim order.

The injunction was dismissed due to the applicant's failure to provide an undertaking as to damages.

The court awarded costs to the respondent for the initial injunction hearing and for responding to the applicant's post-decision attempt to provide the undertaking, but denied costs for the hearings related to the undertaking breach and the failed attempt to vary the interim order, finding them unnecessary.

The court also assessed the reasonableness of the respondent's claimed legal hours and hourly rates.