Macdonald Allen

Following a successful application regarding an international fraud scheme, the applicants sought costs against the respondents.

The court awarded substantial indemnity costs of $185,000 against the corporate respondent, Iberbanco, due to its ongoing willful disregard for court orders, misrepresentations to the court, unfounded allegations against the applicants, and efforts to impede the investigation.

The court declined to order costs against the individual respondents personally, as no relief had been granted against them in the main application.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify two proposed class actions alleging a price-fixing conspiracy in the Canadian canned tuna market.

The plaintiff alleged that the defendants conspired to fix prices of canned tuna sold in Canada, relying on findings from US antitrust proceedings.

The court dismissed the certification motion, finding no basis in fact that the alleged conspiracy existed in Canada.

The court held that the plaintiff failed to satisfy the cause of action, common issues, and preferable procedure criteria, as the market structure and participants in Canada were different from those in the US, and the plaintiff's expert evidence was based on incorrect factual assumptions.

Following a judgment for breach of a commercial lease, the plaintiff landlord sought prejudgment interest and costs.

The court awarded prejudgment interest at the contractual rate of prime plus five percent, rejecting the tenant's argument that his self-represented status constituted an exceptional circumstance.

The court also awarded substantial indemnity costs from the date of the landlord's offer to settle, as the trial judgment exceeded the offer.

Costs were fixed at $128,000, reduced from the claimed amount due to proportionality concerns.