J. Nicholson

The plaintiffs brought a medical malpractice action against the deceased's family physician following the deceased's sudden cardiac death.

The plaintiffs alleged the physician breached the standard of care by failing to elicit symptoms of coronary artery disease during a periodic health examination and by failing to send a referral for a stress test.

The court found the physician met the standard of care during the examination.

While the physician admitted breaching the standard of care by failing to send the referral later, the court concluded this breach did not cause the death, as the deceased would not have received treatment before his death due to specialist wait times, and the fatal arrhythmia was likely caused by pre-existing scarring rather than an acute ischemic event.

The action was dismissed.

In a medical malpractice action, the plaintiffs challenged the admissibility of evidence from a defendant cardiologist, Dr. Wong, concerning average wait times for stress tests.

Dr. Wong's testimony was based on patient records and a summary chart prepared by his office staff.

The plaintiffs argued this constituted inadmissible hearsay, as Dr. Wong did not personally verify all the underlying data.

The court ruled that Dr. Wong's evidence was admissible in its entirety.

It found that the patient records contained Dr. Wong's first-hand knowledge and served to refresh his memory, and the chart was a summary of this information.

Any weaknesses or limitations in the process of compiling the data were deemed to affect the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility.

The plaintiff and the deceased entered into a jewelry business partnership and obtained life insurance policies on each other.

After the deceased passed away, the plaintiff sought summary judgment for the $250,000 insurance proceeds and a $42,000 promissory note.

The defendants counterclaimed, arguing the insurance proceeds were meant to fund a buy-sell agreement for the deceased's shares or were held in a constructive trust.

The court granted partial summary judgment, finding no evidence of a buy-sell agreement or constructive trust, and declared the plaintiff entitled to the insurance proceeds.

The claim regarding the promissory note was sent to trial due to conflicting evidence.

The defendant brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss a construction lien claim filed by the plaintiff, Kyle Stephen Chambers, arguing that the defendant had contracted with the third party, Steven Patrick Chambers (Kyle's father), not Kyle.

The court applied the objective test for contract formation (consensus ad idem) and found that all objective evidence, including signed contracts and communications, indicated that the defendant contracted with Steven Chambers' sole proprietorship.

The plaintiff failed to provide evidence to the contrary.

The motion was granted, dismissing Kyle's lien claim and ordering the return of funds held in trust to the defendant.

Steven Chambers retains an unsecured claim.

The Crown appealed acquittals on two counts of operating an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) in Pinery Provincial Park without written authorization, contrary to Ontario Regulation 347/07 under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act.

The respondent owned a cottage on land bordering the park and claimed an "acquired rights" defence based on a 33-foot right-of-way that predated the park's establishment.

The trial court found the acquired rights defence available and acquitted the respondent.

The appellate court reversed, holding that the doctrine of acquired rights is a municipal law concept not applicable to provincial environmental legislation, and that the regulation of the right-of-way did not constitute an expropriation requiring compensation.