Licence Appeal Tribunal File Number: 14748/MVDA

In the matter of an appeal from a Notice of Proposal to Revoke Registrations and an Immediate Temporary Suspension Order issued by the Registrar pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002, c. 30, Sch. B

Between:

Echo Auto Group Limited o/a Auto Protect by EAF Group of Companies and Mehran Artinian

Appellants

and

Registrar, Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002

Respondent

DECISION AND ORDER

VICE-CHAIR:

Colin Osterberg

APPEARANCES:

For the Appellant:

Justin Jakubiak, Counsel

For the Respondent:

Husein Panju, Counsel

Heard by Videoconference: April 6, 2023

OVERVIEW

1The appellant Echo Auto Group Limited o/a Auto Protect by EAF Group of Companies (“Echo”) has been registered under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002, c. 30, Sch. B (the “Act”) since February 28, 2007 as a motor vehicle dealer. The appellant Mehran Artinian (“Artinian”) has been registered as a motor vehicle salesperson under the Act since 2002 and is the sole corporate director and person in charge of the day-to-day activities of Echo.

2On March 17, 2023, the Registrar, Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002 (“Registrar”) issued a Notice of Proposal to revoke the appellants’ registrations (“NOP”) together with an Immediate Temporary Suspension Notice (“ITSN”) which resulted in immediate suspension of the appellants’ registrations. The appellants have appealed the revocations and suspensions to the Tribunal.

PRELIMINARY ISSUES AND ORDERS

Continuation of Suspension Order

3The hearing commenced on April 6, 2023. At the outset, I asked the parties to address the continuation of the appellants’ suspensions under the ITSN. According to s. 10(3) of the Act, an immediate temporary suspension order terminates 15 days after the appellants file their appeal with the Tribunal unless the hearing is commenced within the 15-day period and the Tribunal orders that the suspension be extended.

4In the present case, the appellants filed their appeal with the Tribunal on March 24, 2023. Therefore, the hearing was commenced within the 15-day period.

5At the hearing, the Registrar asked that the immediate temporary suspensions be extended until the conclusion of the hearing. The appellants consented. Accordingly, I order that the immediate temporary suspensions of the appellants’ registrations shall continue to the conclusion of the hearing.

Adjournment

6On consent of the parties, the appeal is adjourned to hearing dates agreed on by the parties as set out below. The appellants have not yet completed disclosure of the documents or witnesses they intend to rely on at the hearing and require time to prepare to meet the Registrar’s case. The parties will likely be able to narrow the issues for the hearing but currently the hearing is expected to take up to 14 days and sufficient time will have to be set aside by the Tribunal for that. Finally, the parties say that a case conference will likely be helpful in assisting the parties in narrowing the issues, something that is likely to significantly shorten the time required for the hearing.

7In light of the above and given that the public interest is afforded some protection by the continuation of the appellants’ suspensions, I ordered that the hearing be adjourned.

HEARING MANAGEMENT ORDERS

8In light of the above, the parties and Tribunal conducted hearing management. No settlement discussions were undertaken, and the parties agreed that I am not precluded from acting as the adjudicator at the hearing.

9The following orders were made.

Case Conference Dates

10A case conference will be held by teleconference on one of the dates agreed to by the parties. A Notice of Case Conference will be issued shortly confirming the case conference dates and other details. The dates agreed to by the parties are as follows:

April 25, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.

April 26, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.

April 27, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.

Hearing Dates

11The Hearing shall be scheduled to be heard by videoconference on June 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, and 28. A Notice of Hearing will be issued shortly confirming the hearing dates and other details.

Issues

12The first issue at the hearing will be whether the Registrar will be able to prove that Artinian’s past conduct disentitles him to registration pursuant to section 6(1)(a)(ii) of the Act.

13The second issue at the hearing will be whether the Registrar will be able to prove that Artinian’s past conduct disentitles Echo to registration pursuant to s. 6(1)(d)(iii) of the Act.

Disclosure

14The Registrar will provide the appellant and file with the Tribunal copies of all documents it intends to rely on at the hearing by no later than 30 days prior to commencement of the hearing.

15The appellants will provide the respondent and file with the Tribunal copies of all documents they intend to rely on at the hearing by no later than 20 days prior to commencement of the hearing.

16The Registrar may produce documents in reply to the appellants’ disclosure and any such document will be provided to the appellant and filed with the Tribunal by no later than 10 days prior to commencement of the hearing.

17Documents shall be in the form of a document brief, and all pages must be numbered consecutively.

18The Registrar will provide the appellant the names of the witnesses it intends to rely on at the hearing, and brief summaries of their anticipated evidence, by no later than 30 days prior to commencement of the hearing.

19The appellants will provide the respondent the names of the witnesses they intend to rely on at the hearing, and brief summaries of their anticipated evidence, by no later than 20 days prior to commencement of the hearing.

Settlement

20If the parties reach an agreement on the issues in dispute prior to the scheduled hearing date, they shall immediately advise the Tribunal. The Tribunal will thereafter cancel the hearing.

Rules

21The Licence Appeal Tribunal, Animal Care Review Board and Fire Safety Commission Common Rules of Practice and Procedure, Version 1(October 2, 2017) will apply to this appeal except where varied by an order of the Tribunal.