ODR 2014

The applicant brought a motion for procedural directions in a dispute under the Drainage Act.

The Drainage Referee issued a procedural order directing the Township of Tay Valley to produce documents related to the 'Robert Allan Ditch' award drain and to provide an undertaking to produce an engineer to give expert evidence at trial.

The order also removed the Township and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food as parties to the action, and set out a timetable for pleadings, expert reports, discoveries, and trial scheduling.

Following a trial regarding a drainage dispute, the successful defendant, Van Bree Drainage & Bulldozing Ltd., sought costs.

The Ontario Drainage Referee awarded costs on a partial indemnity basis, reducing the claimed amount due to the novelty and importance of the case to the drainage community, as well as the inexperience of defence counsel in this specialized forum.

The costs were apportioned between the plaintiff municipality and the co-defendant engineering firm, taking into account settlement offers and the parties' failure to utilize pre-trial procedures.