Paul Alexander Robson

The respondent brought a Small Claims Court action alleging he should not have been charged with various parking offences under the Highway Traffic Act, though he did not seek to set aside the convictions.

The Small Claims Court dismissed the action as an abuse of process, but the Divisional Court set aside that order.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal restored the Small Claims Court decision, holding that challenging the factual basis underlying convictions without directly seeking to set them aside constitutes an abuse of process and impermissible relitigation.

The appellants appealed a trial judgment finding that the undischarged bankrupt acquired shares and diverted property in violation of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The trial judge found that the bankrupt collaborated to conceal assets from the trustee and ordered an accounting by the corporate appellants.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals, finding ample evidence to support the trial judge's conclusions on share ownership, jurisdiction, and credibility, and upheld the award of substantial indemnity costs.

The appellants filed a Notice of Appeal from an order dismissing their motion to declare an action against them a nullity in bankruptcy proceedings.

They then brought a motion in chambers before the Court of Appeal, arguing that the filing of the Notice of Appeal triggered an automatic stay of the impending trial under s. 195 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The chambers judge first determined she had jurisdiction to decide the applicability of the stay.

On the merits, the judge found that the appellants did not have an appeal as of right under s. 193(a) or (c) because the order appealed from did not involve future rights or property directly exceeding $10,000 in value.

Consequently, the automatic stay under s. 195 did not take effect, and the motion was dismissed.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board issued a brief decision amending the style of cause from its previous decision of May 4, 2001, to reflect the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 443 as an intervenor.