Venneri v. College of Chiropractors of Ontario, 2010 ONSC 473

Reasons for Judgment

dambrot j. (orally)

1Dr. Venneri appeals the order of the Discipline Committee of the College of Chiropractors dated May 7, 2008, which ordered him to pay costs of $128,000.00 over a period of thirty months.

2Section 53.1 of the Health Professions Procedural Code, which is Schedule 2 to the Regulated Health Professions Act, provides a broad discretion to the Discipline Committee to make a costs order. Section 53.1 provides:

53.1 In an appropriate case, a panel may make an order requiring a member who the panel finds has committed an act of professional misconduct or finds to be incompetent to pay all or part of the following costs and expenses:

1. The College’s legal costs and expenses.

2. The College’s costs and expenses incurred in investigating the matter.

3. The College’s costs and expenses incurred in conducting the hearing.

3Dr. Venneri argued that the Discipline Committee lacked jurisdiction to award costs because of s.17.1(1) and (2) of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act. Those subsections provide:

17.1(1) Subject to subsection (2), a tribunal may, in the circumstances set out in rules made under subsection (4), order a party to pay all or part of another party’s costs in a proceeding.

(2) A tribunal shall not make an order to pay costs under this section unless,

(a) the conduct or course of conduct of a party has been unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious or a party has acted in bad faith; and

(b) The tribunal has made rules under subsection (4).

4We need not decide whether the costs provisions of the Code apply irrespective of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act cost provisions. Section 17.1(6) of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act provides that s.17.1 does not apply if a tribunal makes an order for costs in compliance with provisions of an act that were in force on February 14, 2000. Since the Code’s costs provisions were in force on February 14, 2000, they prevail.

5Dr. Venneri also takes issue with the quantum of costs ordered against him.

6The standard of review on this issue is reasonableness, as the tribunal was interpreting its own statute and exercising discretion. The panel gave sufficient reasons to allow Dr. Venneri to understand why the costs order was made and to allow this Court to review the award of costs on a reasonableness standard.

7The panel’s costs order was reasonable given all of the circumstances, including the fact that the College was successful in proving four of the five allegations of professional misconduct that were considered at the hearing, given the serious nature of the professional misconduct, given the length and complexity of the hearing, given Dr. Venneri’s defence and given his refusal to admit any wrongdoing.

8The Committee settled on an amount that it considered to be fair and reasonable, reducing the quantum of costs sought by the College from the $330,000.00 range to $128,000.00. While Dr. Venneri claims that such an order would bankrupt from, he has presented no evidence to support such claim.

9Much of Dr. Venneri’s argument before this Court was an effort to relitigate the findings of professional misconduct made against him. Those findings have already been affirmed by another panel of this Court and leave to appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal has been denied. Such a collateral attack is not permissible on an appeal from costs.

10Dr. Venneri asserts that this cost award is much greater than any other cost award that has been made against any other member of his College, citing Ressel v. College of Chiropractors of Ontario, [2003] O.J. No. 3032. In that case, an award of almost $88,000.00 made in a matter involving serious misconduct was upheld by the Divisional Court.

11Of course, each cost decision turns on the particular facts of the case. We see no error in principle and no error in law in the way the Discipline Committee exercised its discretion in this case. As the Committee’s decision is reasonable, the appeal is dismissed.

FERRIER J.

12Costs fixed at $7,500.00, including disbursements and GST.