J. Winter

The plaintiff, SRK Woodworking Inc., brought a motion to amend its pleadings to add new parties (officers and directors of the defendant, Devlan Construction Ltd.) and to join a breach of trust claim with its existing construction lien action.

The court examined the transitional provisions of the Construction Act and the impact of the repeal of the former prohibition on joining trust claims with lien claims, as well as the re-location of the permissive joinder of breach of contract claims to a regulation.

The court found that the prompt payment and adjudication schemes of the new Act did not apply to this case, and therefore, there was no reason to prohibit the joinder of trust and lien claims.

The motion to add the new defendants and amend the Statement of Claim was granted.

The defendant moved for a further and better affidavit of documents in a construction defect case.

The plaintiffs had produced documents, including expert reports, but failed to serve a sworn, updated affidavit of documents after changing counsel.

The court ordered the plaintiffs to serve a sworn updated affidavit of documents pursuant to Rule 30.07, including all produced documents and those required under Schedules B and C.

The defendants, a lawyer and his firm, brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's professional negligence action as statute-barred.

The plaintiff alleged the defendants negligently failed to perfect a construction lien, resulting in the loss of its secured position.

The plaintiff argued it did not discover the claim until the conclusion of the debtor's bankruptcy proceedings when it became clear no funds would be recovered.

The court held that the plaintiff knew or ought to have known it had suffered a loss and that a civil action was legally appropriate by October 2014, when it was advised the lien had expired.

The bankruptcy proceeding was not an alternative dispute resolution process that delayed the limitation period.

The action, commenced in 2019, was statute-barred and dismissed.

The maternal grandmother moved to be added as a party to a child protection proceeding involving her 20-month-old granddaughter.

The child's parents supported the grandmother's plan of care but were not in a position to care for the child themselves.

The Society opposed the motion, arguing it would cause delay and was unnecessary since the parents could advocate for the grandmother's plan.

The court granted the motion, finding that the grandmother had a legal interest in the case under the Child and Family Services Act and that her independent advocacy was in the child's best interests.

The applicant children's aid society brought a motion for summary judgment seeking a finding that the child was in need of protection, a deemed custody order in favour of the mother, and an order limiting the father's access to written communication.

The father opposed the motion, alleging the mother had engaged in parental alienation.

The court found no genuine issue for trial, concluding that the father's relentless focus on parental alienation had caused the child emotional harm and placed her at risk of physical harm, culminating in the child threatening self-harm with a knife.

The court granted summary judgment, finding the child in need of protection and ordering deemed custody to the mother with limited written access for the father.

The Children's Aid Society brought a summary judgment motion in a status review application regarding two children who had been placed with their maternal grandparents.

The Society sought a final custody order for the grandparents, a continuation of a restraining order prohibiting the parents from contacting the children, and an order denying parental access.

The parents opposed the motion, arguing that access and their involvement in monitoring the grandparents' care should be determined at trial.

The court found no genuine issue requiring a trial, noting the mother's ongoing conflictual behaviour and the parents' lack of insight as established by a recent parenting capacity assessment.

Summary judgment was granted, placing the children in the grandparents' custody and denying the parents access.