K.L. MacDonald

The plaintiff subcontractor brought a motion for summary judgment against the defendant general contractor for breach of trust under the Construction Lien Act.

The defendant had received funds from the project owner but withheld payment to the plaintiff after the plaintiff registered a claim for lien.

The court found that the defendant's failure to pay the trust funds within a reasonable time and failure to provide an accounting constituted a breach of trust.

The defendant's cross-motion for set-off was dismissed due to lack of evidence.

Judgment was granted in favour of the plaintiff for $559,926.18.

The defendants requested case management under Rule 77 of the Rules of Civil Procedure due to the plaintiff's alleged non-compliance with a prior order, including the payment of costs.

The court found Rule 77 inapplicable to civil cases in the Central West Region.

Considering the request under Rule 37.15, which allows case management for complicated issues or multiple similar proceedings, the court declined the request.

The court found no information indicating complicated issues or multiple proceedings, only alleged procedural non-compliance.

The applicant brought a motion for directions regarding whether a prior court order required the commencement of a fresh action with new pleadings, productions, and examinations for discovery in a dispute concerning the calculation of gross rentable area under a commercial lease.

The respondent opposed the need for a new action and sought to proceed directly to trial on an expedited basis.

The court found that the dispute centered on expert methodology rather than the parties’ intentions or lease validity, and that the lease contained a mechanism for determining gross rentable area.

The court also noted prejudice to the property owner caused by ongoing litigation preventing the sale of the building.

Directions were issued converting the matter into an action proceeding to expedited trial and treating prior application evidence as partial discovery.