Moira Daly

The Attorney General for Ontario moved to quash an appeal from an order dismissing a motion for an interim stay of the Chief Justice's order ending the COVID-19 eviction moratorium.

The appellants argued the order was final because it effectively determined their case was not justiciable and disposed of their substantive rights.

The Court of Appeal held that an order refusing a stay is interlocutory, as the merits of the underlying motion to set aside the Chief Justice's order remained to be determined.

The appeal was quashed for lack of jurisdiction.

The appellants brought a motion for directions.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the motion without costs, relying on the reasons given in a companion motion (M51732).

The Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO) and two residential tenants moved for an urgent stay of an order by Chief Justice Morawetz, which had varied a previous order to end a moratorium on residential evictions in Ontario.

The applicants sought to reinstate the moratorium, arguing that lifting it was premature due to ongoing COVID-19 risks, especially for vulnerable tenants.

The court dismissed the motion for a stay, finding that the applicants failed to establish a serious issue to be tried, as the Chief Justice's original order was an exercise of inherent jurisdiction to control court processes, not a policy decision on the pandemic.

The court emphasized that the issues raised by tenants were policy matters for the government, not legal issues for the court.

The landlord appealed several orders of the Landlord and Tenant Board, including an order requiring him to pay the tenants $11,084.16.

The appeal was dismissed by the Assistant Registrar because the landlord failed to perfect the appeal within one year and failed to file transcripts.

The landlord brought a motion to set aside the dismissal order.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion, finding that the landlord had not pursued his appeal on his own initiative and had failed to comply with the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The appeals were dismissed and the certificates of stay were set aside.