B. Brown

The applicant brought a motion under s. 21(5) of the Courts of Justice Act to set aside orders of single judges that quashed his application for mandamus and allowed interveners to participate.

The applicant sought to compel three police forces to investigate alleged criminal conduct by the CN Police Service.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion, affirming that mandamus does not lie to compel police to investigate specific crimes, as police discretion in such matters is not subject to judicial dictation.

The court also upheld the costs awards and strongly criticized counsel for filing voluminous, uncoordinated materials, citing the culture shift required by Hryniak v. Mauldin.

The applicants sought judicial review of a decision by the Ontario Police Civilian Commission finding the applicant police officer guilty of insubordination.

The officer had failed to comply with an order from the Chief of Police, arguing that a portion of the order requesting tax information was unlawful.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, holding that even if the tax information request was unlawful, the officer was still obliged to obey the remaining lawful aspects of the order, and his failure to do so constituted insubordination.