Ronald E. Carr

The defendants brought a motion to strike the plaintiff's consolidated fresh as amended statement of claim without leave to amend.

The claim arose from the procurement process for the Pan/ParaPan American Games Athletes' Village, where the plaintiff alleged it was wrongfully excluded from participating in the winning bid's financing.

The court struck several claims, including breach of the term sheet, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, and a novel 'public law claim', without leave to amend.

Claims for breach of an oral agreement and misfeasance in public office were struck with leave to amend.

Claims for fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation against the private defendants and the Crown agency were allowed to stand.

The defendants moved to strike the plaintiff's consolidated fresh as amended statement of claim without leave to amend.

The action arose from the procurement process for the Pan/ParaPan American Games Athletes' Village, where the plaintiff alleged it was wrongfully excluded from participating in the winning bid's financing.

The court struck several claims, including breach of the term sheet, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment against the Crown, without leave to amend.

The claim for breach of an oral agreement was struck with leave to amend to provide better particulars.

The claims for fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation against the private defendants and Infrastructure Ontario were allowed to proceed.

The Crown commenced a civil action seeking to recover environmental remediation costs arising from buried waste drums that contaminated groundwater.

The defendants moved to dismiss the action for delay and as statute-barred, while the Crown sought summary judgment against certain defendants relying on prior convictions under environmental legislation.

The court held that the claim was not barred by the applicable limitation period but refused summary judgment, finding genuine issues requiring trial, including damages and apportionment of liability.

Applying the Woodheath test, the court concluded that the approximately twenty‑one‑year delay in prosecuting the action was inordinate and inexcusable and created a presumption of prejudice that was not rebutted.

Given the death of key witnesses, fading memories, and lack of preserved evidence, the court found both presumed and actual prejudice and dismissed the action for delay.

Following the dismissal of an action on summary judgment concerning alleged nondisclosure in a land sale, the successful defendants sought costs on a partial indemnity basis.

The plaintiffs had alleged that the vendor Crown breached duties of good faith and honesty by failing to disclose Indigenous land-related claims affecting the property.

The court reviewed the principles governing costs under Rule 57.01 and the Courts of Justice Act and rejected the argument that the Crown’s costs should be discounted because government counsel are salaried.

The court held the defendants’ claimed fees and disbursements were reasonable given the complexity of responding to allegations of bad faith and the extensive factual investigation required.

Costs of $383,745.81 on a partial indemnity basis were awarded to the defendants.

The Crown brought a motion for leave to appeal an order permitting the plaintiffs to amend their statement of claim to add the Crown as a defendant in litigation concerning the implementation of competitive procurement for student transportation services.

The plaintiffs alleged the Ministry of Education improperly influenced school boards to use RFP processes under the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act and related procurement directives, disadvantaging smaller operators.

The court held that the claims, including allegations of negligent misrepresentation and breach of statutory duties, were not plainly untenable and required a full factual record at trial.

Questions regarding Crown immunity and the scope of any duty of care could not be resolved without detailed factual findings.

Leave to appeal was therefore refused.

Following dismissal of a motion by the Crown to strike a negligence and negligent misrepresentation claim arising from a government procurement process for school bus services, the court determined the appropriate costs award.

The plaintiffs sought substantial indemnity costs while the Crown argued for a lower partial indemnity award.

Applying Rule 57 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and the fairness principles from Boucher, the court held that the motion, although unsuccessful, was not wholly devoid of merit and therefore did not justify substantial indemnity costs.

The court also rejected the Crown’s submission that HST should not be included in a costs award against it.

Partial indemnity costs of $39,897 inclusive of disbursements and HST were awarded to the plaintiffs.

The defendant Ministry of Transportation (MTO) brought a motion to amend its statement of defence and counterclaim to plead that the plaintiff was a tenant at will of the Crown and that no compensation was owed under the Public Lands Act.

The plaintiff brought a cross-motion to strike existing paragraphs of the defence.

The court denied the MTO's request to amend the pleadings regarding the tenancy at will issue, finding it was barred by res judicata as it should have been pursued in a prior proceeding before the Mining and Lands Commissioner.

However, the court allowed the amendment regarding the Public Lands Act.

The plaintiff's cross-motion to strike was dismissed.