L. Will

The Attorney General of Ontario applied under the Civil Remedies Act, 2001 for the forfeiture of the proceeds of the sale of six clubhouses used by the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, as well as various seized property including Outlaws paraphernalia, currency, and weapons.

The responding party argued the application was statute-barred and raised several Charter challenges.

The court found the clubhouses were both proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity and ordered the proceeds of their sale forfeited.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of wearable Outlaws paraphernalia, currency, documents, and weapons as instruments of unlawful activity.

The court found that while the forfeiture of wearable paraphernalia infringed s. 2(b) of the Charter, the infringement was justified under s. 1.

The court declined to order forfeiture of decorative paraphernalia, support wear, and 'white power' memorabilia, finding insufficient evidence they were instruments of unlawful activity.

Following the dismissal of a motion for leave to appeal, the successful responding parties sought costs.

They submitted a joint draft bill of costs reflecting fees, disbursements, and HST, with a reduction applied for duplication of work between two law firms.

The court found the respondents entitled to costs on a partial indemnity basis and held that the draft bill appropriately reflected the Rule 57.01 factors, including the complexity of the proceeding and late amendments to the grounds of appeal.

The moving party accepted the claimed amount but requested a deduction to account for an outstanding prior costs order.

The court fixed costs accordingly after deducting the outstanding amount.

The Attorney General of Ontario sought leave to appeal an interlocutory order dismissing a motion for the interim preservation of over $4 million under the Civil Remedies Act.

The funds were the proceeds of the sale of a commercial property previously housing an illegal marijuana grow operation and later leased to a company involved in a stock fraud scheme.

The court found no reason to doubt the correctness of the motion judge's finding that there were no reasonable grounds to believe the property was an instrument of unlawful activity.

Leave to appeal was denied.

The Attorney General of Ontario brought a motion under the Civil Remedies Act for an order to preserve over $4 million, representing the sale proceeds of a commercial property.

The property had previously housed a massive, concealed marijuana grow operation run by tenants, and was later leased to a company involved in a U.S. stock fraud scheme.

The court found no issue estoppel from prior unsuccessful federal criminal forfeiture proceedings against the property owner.

While the court found reasonable grounds to believe the property was an instrument of unlawful activity due to the grow operation, it ultimately dismissed the preservation motion.

The court concluded that preserving the funds would clearly not be in the interests of justice, as the owner had no knowledge of or participation in the unlawful activities, making a preservation order manifestly harsh and draconian.