Rebecca Hyun Joo Ro

The defendant, Executive Director of the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research, brought a motion under Rules 21.01(1)(b) and 25.06 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to strike the plaintiff's statement of claim without leave to amend.

The plaintiff had previously amended the claim twice.

The court found the claim, which alleged unspecified torts related to the plaintiff's troubled relationship with McMaster University and the Secretariat's handling of research misconduct reports, disclosed no reasonable cause of action.

The court determined that the plaintiff failed to plead material facts supporting a private law duty of care or any recognized tort against the defendant, and that the claim consisted of bald, conclusory statements.

Given the repeated failures to cure deficiencies, leave to amend was denied, and the action was dismissed.

This motion concerned the interpretation of the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (WEPPA) regarding Service Canada's subrogation rights to recover payments made to employees from an insolvent employer's distribution.

Metroland Media Group Ltd. made a proposal to its creditors, entitling unsecured creditors to a 17% distribution.

Service Canada had approved payments to former non-unionized employees under WEPPA for unpaid severance pay.

The issue was whether Service Canada was entitled to recover these payments on a dollar-for-dollar basis from the employees' distribution or only a pro-rata share (17 cents on the dollar) as an unsecured creditor.

The court held that Service Canada is entitled to a dollar-for-dollar recovery, up to the amount of the WEPP payment, from the employee's distribution before the employee receives any balance.