McCombs J.

The applicants sought costs of $120,000 on a partial indemnity basis following a successful judicial review application.

The respondents argued that $30,000 was appropriate.

Applying the overriding principle of reasonableness from Boucher, the Divisional Court considered factors including the length of the hearing, the complexity of the issues, the voluminous record, and duplication of effort by applicants' counsel.

The court fixed costs at $60,000.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) sought judicial review of an order by the Assistant Information and Privacy Commissioner requiring it to disclose an electronic database containing the personal information of over 10 million Ontario residents to a collection agency.

The Commissioner had found that disclosure was expressly authorized by the Assessment Act, relying on previous case law regarding municipal election records.

The Divisional Court quashed the Commissioner's decision, finding that the Assessment Act did not expressly authorize disclosure of the electronic records and that the Commissioner failed to properly consider the differing statutory contexts and privacy interests.

The Court also held that MPAC was entitled to refuse disclosure under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act because the information was already available to the public in paper form.

The applicants, parents of children with severe disabilities, applied for additional special needs funding from the Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services.

They submitted detailed proposals but were awarded only a fraction of their requests without any explanation, criteria, or opportunity to respond.

The applicants sought judicial review of these decisions.

The Divisional Court held that the Minister's funding decisions under the Child and Family Services Act are statutory and subject to judicial review.

The court found that the Ministry breached its duty of procedural fairness by failing to provide criteria, reasons, or an opportunity to be heard.

The decisions were quashed and referred back to the Minister for reconsideration.