J. Paul R. Cassan

The Town of Laurentian Hills brought an application without notice under s. 7(2) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act for an order allowing all members of its municipal council to discuss and vote on matters related to a Near Surface Disposal Facility proposal by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.

Every member of the council had a conflict of interest as they or a close relative received remuneration from the company, which would prevent a quorum.

The court granted the order, finding that the issue was one of governance and political decision-making rather than personal financial benefit, and did not offend the spirit of the Act.

The Town of Laurentian Hills brought a motion to settle the form of an order previously granted under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, which provided exemptions for municipal council members regarding matters involving a major employer.

The Town sought to introduce fresh evidence and a broad schedule of exempted matters.

The court declined to admit the fresh evidence or grant the broad schedule, finding it lacked sufficient particularity.

The court settled the order with a limited and specific list of exemptions based on the evidence from the original hearing.

The court issued a costs endorsement following the dismissal of the defendants' anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act.

Both parties sought costs.

The defendants claimed over $250,000 for eight different court steps, arguing the self-represented plaintiffs caused unnecessary legal expenses.

The plaintiffs sought $30,000 for successfully defending the motion.

The court awarded the defendants $34,000 for various interlocutory steps, finding the plaintiffs' litigation strategy was disproportionate and caused unnecessary expenses.

The court declined to award costs to the plaintiffs for the s. 137.1 motion, applying the statutory presumption against costs for successful responding parties due to their conduct.

The Integrity Commissioner applied for a determination that a municipal councillor contravened the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

The councillor had declared a conflict of interest regarding a fire department service charge levied against her son, but remained in the council meeting and actively questioned the fire department representative about practices and procedures.

The court found the councillor intentionally used her position to attempt to obtain a financial advantage for her son, contravening the Act.

The court declared the councillor's seat vacant but declined to disqualify her from seeking re-election in the future.

The defendants, a municipality and its councillors, brought an anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act to dismiss the plaintiffs' claims of defamation and misfeasance in public office.

The plaintiffs, owners of a local newspaper, alleged the defendants targeted them for their investigative journalism.

The court struck portions of the plaintiffs' affidavits for containing improper argument and opinion.

However, the court dismissed the anti-SLAPP motion, finding that the plaintiffs' claims had substantial merit, the defendants' defences were not guaranteed to succeed, and the public interest in allowing the action to proceed outweighed the public interest in protecting the defendants' expressions.

The Town of Laurentian Hills applied under s. 7(2) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act for an order authorizing its council to vote on matters involving Canadian Nuclear Industries (CNL).

Every member of the council had an indirect pecuniary interest in CNL, which would otherwise paralyze decision-making due to a lack of quorum.

A ratepayer objected to a blanket exemption.

The court held that while a blanket exemption for all future CNL matters was not permissible, an exemption could be granted for specifically identified, recurring matters that would inevitably result in a loss of quorum.