Jennifer Matic

The plaintiff sought leave to amend her Statement of Claim to add her two daughters as plaintiffs under section 61 of the Family Law Act, after the action had been set down for trial.

While leave to bring the motion was granted, the motion to amend the Statement of Claim itself was denied.

The court found that the Family Law Act claims were likely statute-barred under the Limitations Act, as the plaintiff failed to provide any evidence to demonstrate discoverability was a triable issue for the proposed new plaintiffs.

Additionally, the proposed amended Statement of Claim failed to plead discoverability.

The court determined costs arising from four similar insurance motions brought by separate defendants in related actions.

The plaintiffs sought partial indemnity costs of $36,500.

The court found that a deduction was required because some counsel time related to unargued Charter applications rather than the motions themselves.

Applying the principles from Hunt v. TD Securities Inc., the court declined to award substantial indemnity costs and instead reduced the requested amount by $8,000.

The plaintiffs were awarded $28,500 plus HST, payable equally among the defendants.

The plaintiffs, injured in motor vehicle accidents, applied for mediation through the Financial Services Commission of Ontario regarding entitlement to statutory accident benefits.

Mediation was not scheduled within 60 days of filing their applications, and the regulator refused to issue reports declaring mediation had failed, asserting the 60‑day period began only once a mediator was appointed.

The plaintiffs commenced court actions and the insurers moved to strike the claims for lack of jurisdiction.

The court held that Rule 19 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code imposes a mandatory requirement that mediation be concluded within 60 days of filing the mediation application.

Because that period had expired, mediation was deemed to have failed and the plaintiffs were not required to obtain a failed mediation report or pursue internal appeals or judicial review before commencing their actions.