Ruhaina Dhirani

This decision concerns the quantum of costs following a successful motion by the applicant to compel the sale of a home.

The applicant sought approximately $27,000 in costs.

The court found this amount disproportionate given the relative simplicity of the motion and the value of the property in a non-urban area.

While acknowledging the applicant's full success and the respondent's lack of meaningful participation, which warranted a higher sanction, the court reduced the award to $10,000, emphasizing the principle of proportionality in costs awards.

The Respondent (father) sought full recovery of costs for a Hague Convention trial concerning the return of the parties' child, which he won.

The court found the Applicant (mother) acted in bad faith by orchestrating the child's removal and misleading the father and court.

Despite the mother's financial circumstances, the court awarded the father $75,000 in costs, reducing the requested amount due to excessive hourly rates and duplication of work by the father's counsel, emphasizing proportionality and the deterrent purpose of costs in abduction cases.

This is a Hague Convention motion brought by the father for the immediate return of the child to her habitual residence in Redmond, Washington, USA.

The mother had removed the child to India without the father's consent and subsequently moved her to Canada.

The court found that the child's habitual residence was Redmond, Washington, and that the mother's removal and retention of the child were wrongful under Article 3 of the Hague Convention.

The court rejected the mother's arguments that the father had acquiesced or consented to the removal/retention, that there was a grave risk of harm to the child upon return, or that the child was settled in her new environment in Toronto.

The court ordered the immediate return of the child to Redmond, Washington, and dismissed the mother's application for jurisdiction in Ontario.