Court File and Parties

CITATION: Doe v. College of Physicians and Surgeons, 2021 ONSC 1424

DIVISIONAL COURT FILE NO.: 506/20

DATE: 20210224

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE – ONTARIO

DIVISIONAL COURT

RE: Jane Doe, Applicant

AND: College of Physicians and surgeons of ontario, Respondent

BEFORE: D.L. Corbett J.

COUNSEL: Colin Johnstone and Amanda Smallwood, for the Applicant Sayran Sulevani, for the Respondent Shahana Kar, for A.G. Ontario

HEARD at Toronto: February 17, 2021

PUBLICATION BAN:

A temporary non-publication order in this proceeding has been issued pursuant to the common law powers of a judge by the Superior Court of Justice and the considerations outlined by the Supreme Court of Canada in [Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., 1994) 3 S.C.R. 835, prohibiting the publication of any evidence or information that may identify the parties or their children.

ENDORSEMENT

D.L. Corbett J.

[1] This is an interim publication ban and directions pending a motion for a publication ban and related relief. It follows the decision of Kristjanson J. in A.P. v. L.K., 2019 ONSC 4031 because, in my view, that case accurately sets out the applicable principles and gives appropriate directions to facilitate notice to the media pending a motion for a publication ban.

[2] I exercise my discretion to issue an interim publication ban until the publication ban motion is argued on March 5, 2021. An interim publication ban will preserve the applicant’s ability to argue the privacy and security interests of the applicant, the applicant’s spouse and their children, and will have minimal deleterious effects on the rights and interests of the media or any other persons. Any deleterious effects will be outweighed by the salutary effect of having the motion for a publication ban dealt with in an orderly manner, including by ensuring that media representatives are properly notified pursuant to the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which establishes the default procedure to be followed when a party seeks a discretionary publication ban in any proceeding in the Superior Court of Justice, including the Divisional Court.

[3] An interim publication ban shall issue on the following terms:

(1) This decision, motion and documents filed on the motion shall refer to the applicant, her spouse and their children by initials;

(2) A publication ban is ordered with respect to information identifying the applicant, her spouse and their children;

(3) The applicant is directed to notify the media of the pending motion for a publication ban in the manner prescribed by the Consolidated Provincial Practice Direction of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, using the names of the parties; and

(4) The publication ban made today will continue, subject to any further order of this court, until final disposition of the motion for a publication ban.

[4] This endorsement is effective from the time an unsigned copy is transmitted to the parties by email; a signed version will be provided to the parties in due course.

D.L. Corbett J.

Date: February 24, 2021