Court of Appeal for Ontario
Date: 2019-10-15 Docket: C66663
Judges: Rouleau, Huscroft and Nordheimer JJ.A.
Between
Henry Lee, P. Eng. Appellant
and
Simon Yeung, P. Eng., Broker of Record for Homelife New World Realty and Homelife New World Realty Inc. Respondents
Counsel
Henry Lee, in person
Michael Crystal and Alejandro Jaramillo, for the respondents
Heard and released orally: October 15, 2019
On appeal from: the judgment of Justice Shaun S. Nakatsuru of the Superior Court of Justice, dated February 7, 2019.
Reasons for Decision
[1] Mr. Lee appeals from the dismissal of his application for damages arising out of his exclusion from some WeChat groups that were related to his occupation as a real estate agent. He also sought a declaration that the WeChat groups belonged to the respondent Homelife.
[2] We would dismiss the appeal.
[3] First, an application is not the appropriate proceeding for advancing a damages claim of the type put forward here. That fact alone would justify the dismissal of the application. Second, and in any event, there is no error shown in the application judge's conclusion that neither of the bases advanced by Mr. Lee for his claim had a proper evidentiary foundation. There is simply an absence of evidence to support either a claim for intentional interference with economic relations or a civil conspiracy or a declaration of the type sought. Mr. Lee's reliance on the Competition Act does not remove any of those failings.
[4] Finally, the application judge dealt fairly with all of the evidentiary issues raised. These were all matters within the discretion of the application judge and no error is shown. Further, Mr. Lee never sought an adjournment of the application to address any of these issues.
[5] The appeal is dismissed. Costs to the respondent fixed in the amount of $3500 inclusive of disbursements and HST.
Paul Rouleau J.A. Grant Huscroft J.A. I.V.B. Nordheimer J.A.