Douglas J. Los

The Court of Appeal for Ontario issued an endorsement on costs following an appeal.

The court determined that costs should be awarded against the respondent Sudbury Downs Holding, as it stood in an adversarial relationship to the appellant, unlike the Ontario Racing Commission.

Costs were fixed on a partial indemnity scale for the application for judicial review, the motion for leave to appeal, and the appeal itself, totaling $42,880 in fees plus disbursements and GST.

The appellants appealed a jury verdict dismissing their crossclaim against the respondent trailer manufacturer following a fatal motor vehicle accident.

The jury found the accident was caused solely by the negligence of the appellant driver and transport company.

On appeal, the appellants argued the verdict was unreasonable and challenged several evidentiary rulings, including the admission of a deceased driver's statement and log book entries, and the exclusion of coroner's inquest findings.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the jury's verdict was amply supported by the evidence and the trial judge made no errors in his evidentiary rulings or jury instructions.

The appellants and respondents disputed ownership of a five-foot strip of land due to a historical surveying error.

The respondents claimed title under the Registry Act, arguing that title searches need only go back forty years, which allowed them to rely on their predecessors' title and ignore the appellants' 1941 registered claim.

The trial judge ruled in favour of the appellants, but the Court of Appeal reversed the decision.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, adopting the reasons of the Court of Appeal in their entirety.