Angela Severson

The appellant homeowners' action was administratively dismissed for delay under r. 48.14(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure because it was not set down for trial within five years of commencement.

The motion judge declined to set aside the dismissal, applying the Reid factors and finding insufficient evidence to explain the delay, with inferred prejudice where examinations for discovery had not occurred.

The Court of Appeal found no palpable and overriding error in the motion judge's reasoning, noting that the appellants bore the primary responsibility for their action's progress and that the delay was moving into the realm of 'inordinate' once the five-year mark was crossed.

Manulife sought leave to appeal a decision of the Assessment Review Board that held it was estopped from appealing its 2021 and 2022 property tax assessments due to a prior settlement for the 2017-2020 taxation years.

Manulife also brought a motion to admit fresh evidence.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion to admit fresh evidence, finding it did not meet the Palmer test.

However, the Court granted leave to appeal, finding good reason to doubt the correctness of the Board's application of issue estoppel because the prior settlement explicitly applied only to the years under appeal and there had been no hearing on the merits regarding equitable adjustments.

The applicant property owner sought leave to appeal decisions of the Assessment Review Board that increased the assessed value of its property.

The Board had disposed of the matter based on minutes of settlement filed by the respondents, relying on ARB Rule 39 which deemed the non-participating applicant to have consented.

The court granted leave to appeal on the issue of whether ARB Rule 39 conflicts with s. 4.1 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, which requires the consent of all parties to dispose of a proceeding without a hearing.

The applicant property owner sought leave to appeal several decisions of the Assessment Review Board regarding an increase in the assessed value of its property.

The Board had previously increased the property's value based on minutes of settlement filed by the respondents, without the applicant's participation, relying on a rule that deemed non-responsive parties to not oppose settlements.

The court granted leave to appeal on the issue of whether the Board erred in disposing of the proceeding without a hearing in the absence of the consent of all statutory parties, finding a potential conflict between the Board's rules and the Statutory Powers Procedure Act.