John Alexander Olah

The moving defendants sought a stay of an Ontario action arising from injuries allegedly sustained during a horseback riding excursion in Jamaica.

The plaintiffs did not attend the motion or file responding materials.

Applying the jurisdictional framework from Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda, the court held that the foreign hotel and excursion operators lacked the necessary presumptive connecting factors to Ontario.

Although one defendant carried on business in Ontario, the presumption of jurisdiction was rebutted because the defendant had no involvement in the excursion where the injury occurred.

Alternatively, the court held that Jamaica was clearly the more appropriate forum under the doctrine of forum non conveniens.

The applicant resort sought judicial review of an Ontario Labour Relations Board decision upholding an inspector's order.

The order required the resort to report the drowning of a guest in an unsupervised swimming pool under s. 51(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The Divisional Court upheld the Board's findings that 'person' includes non-workers and that the swimming pool was a 'workplace' because workers perform duties there, even if none were present during the incident.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.

Two organizations, Conservation Ontario and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), brought motions for leave to intervene in a judicial review concerning the interpretation of the workplace injury reporting requirements under s. 51(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The court granted intervenor status to Conservation Ontario, finding it could provide a broader context regarding the operation of recreational facilities without expanding the record.

The court dismissed the OACP's motion, as it sought to introduce new issues and factual assertions that were not before the original decision-maker.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario issued a costs endorsement following the hearing of two appeals.

The Van Breda respondents and the Charron respondents were each awarded costs fixed at $45,000, inclusive of disbursements and GST.

The respondents Hola Sun Holidays Limited and Bel Air Travel Group Ltd. were each awarded costs fixed at $10,000.

No costs were ordered for or against the interveners.

The appellants, out-of-province resort operators, appealed decisions dismissing their motions to stay or dismiss personal injury actions for want of jurisdiction.

The Court of Appeal convened a five-judge panel to reconsider the Muscutt test for assumed jurisdiction.

The Court modified the Muscutt test by elevating the weight given to Rule 17.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, creating a presumption of a real and substantial connection for most of its subrules.

The Court also collapsed the fairness factors and clarified the distinction between jurisdiction simpliciter and forum non conveniens.

Applying the revised test, the Court found a real and substantial connection between Ontario and the appellants in both cases and upheld the motion judges' decisions that Ontario was the appropriate forum.

The young person appellant appealed his convictions for assault and assault causing bodily harm arising from two altercations with another youth on the same day.

The Court of Appeal quashed the simple assault conviction, finding the first incident was a consensual schoolyard scuffle and the resulting head injury was unintended.

The Court upheld the conviction for assault causing bodily harm for the second incident, as the appellant initiated the confrontation and the victim did not consent to fight.

However, the Court allowed the sentence appeal, replacing the suspended sentence with a conditional discharge and one month of probation, noting the appellant's good character and lack of criminal record.

The appellants challenged a trial judgment in a personal injury action, arguing principally that the trial judge erred in admitting CAS records and applied the wrong onus.

The Court of Appeal held that, even if the hearsay objection had merit, the adverse credibility finding was strongly supported by other evidence and no substantial wrong or miscarriage resulted.

The court also rejected the onus argument because the finding that the bus was properly brought to a stop was a complete answer.

The threshold issue did not need to be addressed.

The appeal was dismissed with costs if demanded.