Joshua W. Winter

The applicant, Green Relief Inc., sought approval of a transaction for the sale of its assets to 2650064 Ontario Inc. in the course of a CCAA proceeding.

The transaction included a condition precedent releasing claims against current directors, legal counsel, the Monitor, and its counsel.

Certain founding shareholders opposed the release, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction to grant it prior to a plan of arrangement and that they wished to pursue claims for loss of chance.

The court approved the transaction and the release, finding the sale process was reasonable and the release was rationally connected to the restructuring, benefiting creditors by preventing the depletion of the estate through indemnity claims.

The court temporarily lifted the stay of proceedings to allow claims covered by tail insurance to be filed.

The appellant appealed an order of the Superior Court of Justice dismissing his action under Rule 21(a) on the basis that the contractual provision at issue—a covenant to insure—could be determined as a matter of law.

The Court of Appeal found that Rule 21(a) was improperly applied because the covenant could not be interpreted in isolation from the contract as a whole or in a factual vacuum.

The motion judge did not have the contract itself before him, making it impossible to determine the objective intentions of the parties according to principles of contract interpretation.

The appeal was allowed, the motion judge's order was set aside, and costs were awarded to the appellant.

Plus Development Group Corp. brought a motion to oppose the confirmation of a Master's Report, which had awarded Roni Excavating Ltd. $523,241.99 plus costs for excavation work, including extras for the removal of contaminated soil.

Plus Development argued that the Master erred in evidentiary rulings, findings of fact regarding Roni Excavating's knowledge of soil conditions, and the authorization of extras.

The court dismissed Plus Development's motion, confirming the Master's Report, finding no palpable or overriding error in the Master's evidentiary rulings or findings of fact.

The court affirmed that Roni Excavating was entitled to charge for the removal of contaminated material as an extra, as contemplated by the contract and authorized by Plus Development's agent.

The plaintiff, Devlan Construction Ltd., sought costs after successfully obtaining summary judgment against the defendant, 2345171 Ontario Inc. carrying on business as Guelph Medical Imaging, for $105,599.74.

Devlan requested costs of $61,158.24 on a substantial indemnity basis or $50,965.19 on a partial indemnity scale.

Guelph Imaging proposed fixed costs of $30,000.

The court considered factors under Rule 57.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, including the result, counsel experience, expected costs, amount claimed/recovered, complexity, importance of issues, and party conduct.

The court found that Guelph Imaging's arguments, though eventually withdrawn, required Devlan to provide detailed accounting.

The court fixed costs at $60,000.00 in favour of Devlan Construction Ltd.

The plaintiff restoration company brought a motion for summary judgment for unpaid invoices relating to fire damage remediation at the defendants' hotel.

The plaintiff also claimed breach of trust against the individual defendants, alleging they misused insurance proceeds.

The court granted summary judgment for the unpaid invoices, finding the corporate defendants failed to put their best foot forward and raised only speculative objections.

However, the court dismissed the breach of trust claim against the individual defendants, as there was no evidence the insurance funds were misused for personal benefit.