R. Aaron Detlor

The applicant sought an interim order for the recovery of personal property (tobacco kilns and bins) from the respondent, his former business partner's spouse, located on a Six Nations Reserve.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the applicant failed to establish "substantial grounds" for ownership or unlawful detention of the property, and that granting the order would effectively nullify the respondent's potential rights before trial, contrary to the mandatory security provisions of Rule 44.04(1).

The plaintiff brought a motion under rule 37.14 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to set aside a registrar’s administrative dismissal of an action for delay under rule 48.14.

The action concerned unpaid legal fees allegedly owed by the defendant for legal services related to land and boundary claims.

The court applied the contextual analysis derived from the Reid factors, assessing the explanation for delay, inadvertence, promptness of the motion, and prejudice.

Although the plaintiff failed to provide satisfactory explanations for litigation delay and did not bring the motion promptly, the court accepted that the missed deadline resulted from counsel’s inadvertence and found that the defendant would suffer no real prejudice because the claim would largely be determined through preserved documentary evidence.

Balancing the competing principles of timely litigation and adjudication on the merits, the court concluded it was in the interests of justice to set aside the dismissal.