Court File and Parties
CITATION: Coote v. Ontario (Human Rights Commission), 2010 ONCA 337
DATE: 2010-05-10
DOCKET: M38440, M38441, M38442 (C51283, C51284, C51285)
COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
BEFORE: Simmons, LaForme and Epstein JJ.A.
DOCKET: M38442 (C51285)
BETWEEN:
Anthony Coote
Plaintiff (Appellant/Moving Party)
And
Ontario Human Rights Commission et al.
Defendants (Respondents)
and
Veritas Investment Corporation, Michael Palmer, William Marshall, Peter Holden, Ohad Lederer, Chris Marshall, Anthony Scilipoti, Neeraj Monga, Sara Tsang, Sam La Bell, Dimitry Khmelnitsky, Michelle Mercer
Defendants (Respondents)
and
Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP and Karen Jones
Defendants (Respondents)
DOCKET: M3844 (C51283)
AND BETWEEN:
Anthony Coote
Plaintiff (Appellant/Moving Party)
and
Ontario Human Rights Commission et al.
Defendants (Respondents)
and
AGF Trust Company, AGF Management Limited, Douglas L. Derry, Stuart Eagles, W. Robert Farquharson, Blake C. Goldiring, Walter A. Keyser, David A. King, Donald G. Lang, William Morneau, Winthrop H. Smith
Defendants (Respondents)
and
People Exchange, Bonnie Langer, Amber McGregor, and Gita Clarkson
Defendants (Respondents)
and
Stikeman Elliott LLP and Lisa Depiante
Defendants (Respondents)
DOCKET: M38441 (C51284)
AND BETWEEN:
Anthony Coote
Plaintiff (Appellant/Moving Party)
and
Ontario Human Rights Commission, Barbara Hall, Andrea Jelly, Prabhu Ragan, Christopher McKinnon, Neil Edwards, Nancy Austin and Hart Schwartz
Defendants (Respondents)
and
Institutional Shareholder Services Canada Corporation, Bill MacKenzie, Anjeet Bening, Aravinda Galappatthige, Debra Sisti, and Michelle Tan, Parent Company, Board of Directors
Defendants (Respondents)
COUNSEL:
Anthony Coote, acting in person
Farah Malik, for the respondent lawyers and as agent for the ISS respondents
Sara Erskine, for the AGF respondents
Karen Jones, for the Veritas Investment Research Corporation respondents
Jeremy Glick, for the Ontario Human Rights Commission respondents
Chris Cosgriffe, for the People Exchange respondents
HEARD: April 27, 2010
ENDORSEMENT
[1] The moving party asks that we set aside three orders made by the Deputy Registrar dismissing his appeals for failing to perfect within the timeline set out in the Rules of Civil Procedure. The orders under appeal struck out the appellant’s claims advanced against the responding parties in three separate actions as disclosing no reasonable cause of action.
[2] We are not satisfied that the justice of these cases warrants setting aside the Deputy Registrar's orders.
[3] The record indicates that the moving party declined to approve a draft of the orders under appeal prepared by the responding parties because the moving party was concerned that approving the draft orders would somehow prejudice his position on appeal. The moving party’s concern was unfounded. Moreover, his conduct delayed the issuance of the formal orders and contributed, at least to some extent, to his inability to perfect his appeals in a timely way.
[4] More importantly, we are satisfied that the proposed appeals have no reasonable prospect of success. The motions judge gave lengthy and careful reasons reviewing the moving party’s pleadings in detail. He allowed the moving party to deliver an amended pleading to advance the one cause of action that appeared potentially viable but had not been properly pleaded. Based on our review of the pleadings, we see no reasonable prospect that the moving party will be successful in demonstrating an error in the motions judge’s conclusion that the pleadings fail to disclose a reasonable cause of action.
[5] The moving party’s three statements of claim are rambling and difficult to understand. Generally, they appear to advance claims on the basis of responses to complaints made by the appellant to Ontario Human Rights Commission (the “OHRC”). The defendants in the actions include the moving party’s former employer, two parties from whom the moving party sought or was intending to seek employment, the OHRC and OHRC staff, and several lawyers who acted for or on behalf of those parties.
[6] This court has held that the OHRC is not an entity that can be sued: White v. Ontario (Human Rights Commission), [1999] O.J. No. 2034. See also Smith v. New Brunswick (Human Rights Commission) (1997), 1997 CanLII 17791 (NB CA), 143 D.L.R. (4th) 251 (N.B.C.A.), at para. 19, leave to appeal to S.C.C. refused, [1997] S.C.C.A. No. 169.
[7] Moreover, we agree with the motions judge’s conclusion that responses to complaints made to the OHRC are subject to absolute privilege. In Penedo v. Fane, [2000] O.J. No. 3950, leave to appeal to S.C.C. refused, [2001] S.C.C.A. No. 161, this court held that a letter sent as a formal response on behalf of a union to a complaint made against a union to the Canada Labour Relations Board, was privileged. MacPherson J.A., speaking for this court, stated that “the letter was clearly sent in the context of a quasi-judicial proceeding before the CLRB and was entitled to absolute privilege.”
[8] Further, the moving party acknowledges that he did not allege that the lawyer defendants owed him a duty of care.
[9] Finally, in addition to the foregoing problems, we agree with the motions judge’s conclusion that some of the claims advanced by the moving party are not causes of action known to law, while others fail to set out sufficient factual allegations to support a cause of action. In the end, we have been unable to identify any cause of action that the appellant has a reasonable chance of having restored on appeal.
[10] The moving party’s many claims of conflict of interest and improper treatment by court officials and police have no bearing on this crucial issue of whether his appeals have a reasonable prospect of success.
[11] We see no basis for the other relief claimed by the moving party on these motions.
[12] The motions are therefore dismissed with costs to the OHRC defendants, the lawyer defendants and the Veritas defendants on a partial indemnity basis fixed in the amount of $1,500 each.
Signed: “Janet Simmons J.A.”
“H. S. LaForme J.A.”
“Gloria Epstein J.A.”