C. MacLeod

The defendant landlord brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiffs' action arising from a fatal residential fire.

The plaintiffs alleged the fire was caused by a faulty electrical socket due to the landlord's negligence.

The defendant argued the plaintiffs lacked evidence to prove causation and relied on the statutory defence for accidental fires under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the eyewitness evidence of a surviving child, combined with a forensic engineer's report, provided a sufficient evidentiary basis to establish a genuine issue for trial.

The plaintiff corporation registered a construction lien for $184,493.87 against the defendants' property following a home renovation dispute.

The plaintiff subsequently abandoned the action, failed to post ordered security for costs, and its sole owner filed a consumer proposal.

The defendants brought a motion to dismiss the action and sought costs personally against the plaintiff's owner and its lawyer.

The court dismissed the action and awarded substantial indemnity costs against the plaintiff and its owner jointly and severally, finding the owner allowed the action to drift rather than discontinuing it.

The court declined to order costs against the plaintiff's lawyer, finding no evidence of bad faith, malice, or negligence in registering the lien.

The lawyer defendants requested a review of the plaintiffs' statement of claim under Rule 2.1.01.

The court found the claim appeared to be a collateral attack on a previous child protection decision and improperly named judges who have judicial immunity.

The court temporarily stayed the action and directed the Registrar to give notice to the plaintiffs that it is contemplating a permanent stay, allowing them 15 days to provide written submissions.

Following a trial that confirmed the parties as equal tenants in common of a property, the court ordered a reference to account for rental revenues collected by the plaintiff.

The plaintiff provided evidence of revenues and expenses, though funds had been co-mingled with their late father's accounts.

The referee found the plaintiff successfully accounted for the majority of the funds, but ordered an adjustment of $5,541.08 in favour of the defendant for unaccounted revenue and expenses.

The plaintiffs discontinued their main action, and the defendants subsequently abandoned their counterclaim and third party claim.

The defendants brought a motion for costs of the main action, arguing the plaintiffs' claim was devoid of merit and that the counterclaim and third party claim were a natural consequence.

The court found the main action was not self-evidently frivolous and held that each party should be entitled to recover the costs of defending the proceeding launched against them on a partial indemnity scale.

The calculation of costs was referred for assessment.