The defendant brought a motion seeking consolidation of a tort action for damages arising from alleged spousal assaults with an ongoing family law application between the same parties.
The plaintiff opposed consolidation, arguing the tort claim was separate and commenced later due to psychological readiness.
The court considered Rule 6.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and the principle in s. 138 of the Courts of Justice Act that multiplicity of proceedings should be avoided.
Finding that both proceedings involved identical parties, overlapping factual allegations of assault during the marriage, and common issues of fact, the court held that all claims arising from the marital relationship should be determined together.
The tort action was ordered consolidated with the family law application to avoid duplicative proceedings and inconsistent findings.
