Court File and Parties
CITATION: Enofe v. Capreit, 2020 ONSC 5887
COURT FILE NO.: 417/17
DATE: 20200929
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE – ONTARIO – DIVISIONAL COURT
RE: Enofe v. Capreit
COUNSEL: Mr Enofe, self-represented Appellant
Brian Monteiro, for the Respondent Capreit
BEFORE: D.L. Corbett J.
DATE: September 29, 2020
ENDORSEMENT
D.L. Corbett J.
[1] This endorsement reflects a case management teleconference held on September 29, 2020. This appeal is ready to be heard and the respondent has placed the appeal materials in a file sharing platform. All that remains is to schedule a return date,
[2] Mr Enofe does not want the appeal to proceed electronically. He wants to argue it in person. He so advised the court by email prior to this teleconference being scheduled.
[3] The Divisional Court is not conducting hearings in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scarce courtroom resources have been prioritized for cases that require in-person hearings such as jury trials. In-person Divisional Court hearings are not scheduled to resume in 2020, and there is no plan to re-commence them in the first three months of 2021.
[4] I understand that Mr Enofe would prefer to argue his appeal in person. Many parties in Divisional Court cases would prefer to argue in person. There is nothing about this case that places it in a special category where an in-person hearing would contribute to the appeal any more than any other case in Divisional Court. This is a 2017 file and it is long past time that this appeal was heard and decided. It shall proceed forthwith by videoconference.
[5] Prior to this teleconference, the court directed the Registrar to advise the parties by email that the hearing of the appeal will take place by videoconference, or, if the appellant is unable to participate in a videoconference, by teleconference.
[6] Mr Enofe did not attend this case management teleconference, although he was given notice of it by email on September 25th. When he did not call in, the court directed staff to send him an email to tell him to call in immediately, failing which the teleconference would proceed in his absence. By 1:15 pm he had not called in. The court then proceeded with the teleconference to set a date for the appeal.
[7] This appeal shall proceed before a panel of three judges of the Divisional Court by Zoom videoconference on October 14, 2020, at 10:00 am for an estimated 0.5 days. The link for the videoconference shall be provided to the parties by the court in due course. If Mr Enofe seeks an adjournment of this date he must do so by email to the court by October 2, 2020, explaining why he failed to attend the case management teleconference today and why October 14th is not an available date for him for the appeal. Mr Enofe should not expect to be granted an adjournment of the appeal on October 14th if he has not abided by these directions.
[8] An unsigned copy of this endorsement is effective from the time it is emailed to the parties; a signed version shall be provided to the parties in due course.
D.L. Corbett J.
Date: September 29, 2020