Max Anthony Skrow

The plaintiffs and the deceased Madan Sharma were involved in a joint venture to build and sell residential homes.

Following Sharma's death, disputes arose over the winding up of the joint venture, with both sides alleging overpayment of management fees and misappropriation of funds.

The court found that the defendants misappropriated $1,586,584.83 from the sale of a joint venture property by directing the proceeds to a non-joint venture corporation, and pierced the corporate veil to hold the individual defendants personally liable.

The court dismissed the defendants' counterclaim for misappropriation but found that the plaintiff's post-2008 record keeping was sufficiently unreliable to constitute oppression, ordering a formal accounting to determine the final state of accounts.

The plaintiff franchisee brought a motion for an interlocutory injunction to prevent the defendant franchisor from acting on a Notice of Expiration of a restaurant franchise agreement.

The franchise agreement explicitly stated there was no right to renew after the initial 10-year term.

The plaintiff argued it was entitled to an extension based on alleged oral representations and breaches of the duty of fair dealing under the Arthur Wishart Act.

The court found the requested relief was a mandatory injunction requiring a strong prima facie case.

The court dismissed the motion, finding the plaintiff's case was weak, any potential remedy would likely be in damages rather than an order compelling renewal, and the plaintiff failed to establish irreparable harm.

The applicant, Donald Bodkin, moved for an order to convert his application into an action under Rule 38.10(1)(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that the case involved highly contested facts, credibility issues, and required processes inherent to an action like pleadings and examinations for discovery.

The respondents opposed the motion, citing the applicant's legal experience, potential limitation period issues, and alleged delay tactics.

The court found that the test for conversion was met due to significant material facts in dispute, complex issues requiring credibility assessment, and the necessity of a full discovery process.

The court exercised its discretion to grant the conversion, finding no uncompensable prejudice to the respondents.

The tenant brought a motion for various relief against the landlord, including setting aside a distress sale and lease termination, and seeking relief from paying rent during COVID-19 lockdowns.

The court previously granted the tenant's requests regarding the termination and distress sale but required the tenant to pay post-NOI rent.

On the issue of costs, both parties sought costs.

The court found that success was divided and, given the tenant's continued significant default in rent payments, ordered that no costs be payable by either party.

The tenant filed a Notice of Intention to Make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The landlord attempted to terminate the commercial lease for non-payment of post-NOI rent and claimed to have completed a distress sale of the tenant's chattels just prior to the NOI filing.

The tenant brought a motion to set aside the lease termination and the distraint, and sought relief from paying rent during the COVID-19 shutdown.

The court set aside the lease termination, finding the landlord acted precipitously without giving the tenant reasonable time to deliver promised rent cheques.

The court also set aside the distraint, finding the sale was not completed prior to the NOI and did not comply with the Commercial Tenancies Act.

However, the court held the tenant was not relieved from paying post-NOI rent due to the pandemic shutdown.