COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

CITATION: Foessl v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2016 ONCA 304

DATE: 20160425

DOCKET: C60986

Hoy A.C.J.O., Blair and Roberts JJ.A.

BETWEEN

Sean Foessl

Applicant (Appellant)

and

The Attorney General of Ontario

Respondent (Respondent in Appeal)

Trent Falldien, for the appellant

Sara Weinrib and Josh Hunter, for the respondent

Heard and released orally: April 22, 2016

On appeal from the judgment of Justice Hennessy of the Superior Court of Justice, dated August 11, 2015.

ENDORSEMENT

[1] The appellant appeals the decision of the application judge dismissing his application for a declaration that the name “Domestic Violence Court” violated his constitutional rights under ss. 7, 12 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[2] In our view, this appeal is without merit.

[3] The application judge provided careful reasons supporting her conclusion that the appellant had not demonstrated that the name of the Domestic Violence Court: 1) caused him to suffer serious state-imposed psychological harm or was overbroad contrary to s. 7; 2) constituted cruel and unusual treatment contrary to s. 12; or 3) discriminated against him contrary to s. 15.

[4] She applied the correct legal tests and her conclusions were fully supported by the record. We agree with her conclusion that the evidence of the appellant’s expert witness, Dr. Lariviere, was insufficient to make out the alleged Charter violations.

[5] We observe that applications like this run the risk of trivializing the important rights protected by the Charter.

[6] This appeal is dismissed.

[7] The respondent is entitled to costs fixed in the amount of $2,000, inclusive of disbursements and H.S.T.

“Alexandra Hoy A.C.J.O.”

“R.A. Blair J.A.”

“L.B. Roberts J.A.”