Emily Villeneuve

On the return of a civil contempt motion, the plaintiff sought incarceration after the defendant failed to purge an earlier contempt finding by providing complete answers to undertakings.

The court found the defendant continued to mislead the court through repackaged, redacted, and unreliable documents and had not purged his contempt.

Applying the established principles governing civil contempt sentencing, the court held that a further custodial sanction was unnecessary given the prior striking of the defence, partial judgment, and earlier costs award.

The court instead imposed a $7,500 fine, authorized further tracing steps through signed authorizations, and awarded substantial indemnity costs of $12,000.

Following a finding of contempt and a motion to strike the defence, the successful party sought full indemnity costs exceeding $67,000.

The court considered the aggravating factors under Rule 57.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and the conduct of the responding party, including findings that the responding party had deliberately misled the court and bankruptcy officials.

The court held that the contempt finding justified costs on a higher scale, namely substantial indemnity.

However, the court reduced the amount claimed to account for prior cost awards and some duplication related to a previous motion to lift a stay of proceedings.

Costs were fixed at $50,000 inclusive of HST and disbursements.