Michelle Morgan Doody

The court dismissed a motion by Ottawa Police Services and Keith Patrick to strike Tanya Locke’s claim for misfeasance in public office.

The defendants argued the claim was statute-barred, disclosed no reasonable cause of action, and was an abuse of process due to a prior dismissed action.

The court found the claim could fall within the exception in section 16 of the Limitations Act, 2002, and that the plaintiff had pleaded the elements of misfeasance in public office.

The court held the claim was not statute-barred, disclosed a reasonable cause of action, and was not an abuse of process.

The Ottawa Police Services Board brought an application to have Deirdre Moore declared a vexatious litigant under section 140 of the Courts of Justice Act.

The court reviewed Ms. Moore’s extensive litigation history, including multiple meritless and repetitive claims, improper purposes, and abusive conduct both inside and outside the courtroom.

The court found that Ms. Moore’s conduct met the hallmarks of vexatious litigation and granted the application, prohibiting her from instituting or continuing proceedings without leave of the court, except for ongoing divorce proceedings.

The court also fixed costs against Ms. Moore.

The plaintiff, a self-represented litigant, brought a claim alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy by US officials, Canadian defendants (Toronto Police Services Board, CSIS, and Government of Canada), and others, involving surveillance, remote physical/mental impacts, and financial suppression.

The Canadian defendants moved to strike the Statement of Claim without leave to amend, arguing it lacked sufficient particulars and disclosed no reasonable cause of action, particularly against the Crown.

The court granted the motion, finding the allegations to be bald, unsupported, and incapable of proof, and that no viable claim could be pleaded even with amendments.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for costs thrown away after the defendants served a Medicolegal File Review expert report in breach of Rule 53.03, just one week before the pre-trial and trial.

Although the defendants subsequently advised they would no longer rely on the report, rendering the substantive motion unnecessary, the plaintiffs sought costs for the wasted effort.

The court applied the three-component test for costs thrown away, finding that the plaintiffs' motion was reasonably necessary, the associated fees and disbursements were rendered useless, and the defendants' conduct occasioned these wasted costs.

The court awarded the plaintiffs $5,000 in costs.

The plaintiff, Neda Raji, brought an action seeking damages for false arrest, detention, abuse of process, harassment, and malicious prosecution against the Attorney General of Canada, the City of Ottawa, the Ottawa Police Services Board, nine police officers (collectively "OPS defendants"), and Stephen Leach (Independent Police Review Director).

The defendants brought Rule 21 motions to strike out the statement of claim and dismiss the action.

The Attorney General of Canada and Mr. Leach moved under r. 21.01(1)(b) for failure to disclose a reasonable cause of action, while the OPS defendants sought dismissal/stay under r. 21.01(3)(d) for being frivolous, vexatious, or an abuse of process, or striking under r. 25.11(b) or (c).

The court found no reasonable cause of action against the Attorney General of Canada as the claims did not involve federal jurisdiction or Crown servants.

The claim against Mr. Leach was struck due to statutory immunity under the Police Services Act, as no bad faith was pleaded.

The action against the OPS defendants was dismissed as an abuse of process (attempting to re-litigate criminal matters), frivolous (lacking legal merit, incoherent pleading), and scandalous (bare allegations of conspiracy, perjury, assault, fabrication).

Leave to amend the claim was denied due to the fundamental deficiencies and the unlikelihood of a credible lawsuit emerging.

The action was dismissed in its entirety against all defendants.

The plaintiff brought a motion to strike the jury notice in her motor vehicle collision action, seeking to proceed to trial before a judge alone due to concerns about potential delays and prejudice (financial and mental health) related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court granted leave for the plaintiff to bring the motion but ultimately dismissed it.

The court found that the plaintiff's grounds, such as temporary jury selection bans, were no longer valid as COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted.

The court emphasized the substantive right to a jury trial and determined that the plaintiff's evidence regarding prejudice was insufficient or lacked concrete detail to justify overriding this right.

The court reserved costs to the trial judge and granted both parties leave to bring further motions if the pandemic circumstances change again.

The City of Ottawa brought an ex-parte motion for an interim injunction against "Persons Unknown" (Freedom Convoy 2022) to restrain ongoing violations of municipal by-laws during a demonstration.

The court granted the injunction, finding overwhelming evidence of by-law breaches and significant disruption to city functions and public safety.

The decision applied the modified test for statutory injunctions under the Municipal Act, emphasizing the public interest in law enforcement over the need to prove irreparable harm or balance of convenience.

This decision addresses pre-judgment interest and costs following a trial where the plaintiffs were awarded damages against Legalett Canada Inc. for negligent misrepresentation and breach of collateral warranty, but their claim against Joshua Teixeira was dismissed.

The court awarded the plaintiffs pre-judgment interest and partial indemnity costs from Legalett.

Concurrently, the court awarded partial indemnity costs to Teixeira from the plaintiffs.

The court declined to issue a Sanderson or Bullock order, finding it was reasonable for the plaintiffs to sue Teixeira personally and that the defendants did not improperly shift responsibility onto each other.