The plaintiffs successfully defeated the defendant's anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act and sought partial indemnity costs of $43,641.16.
The court considered the presumption in s. 137.1(8) that a successful responding party is not entitled to costs unless appropriate in the circumstances.
The court found that the plaintiffs' defamation claim was weak and appeared to be used strategically to extract a gag order from the defendant.
Given the strategic behaviour of both parties, the court declined to award costs to the plaintiffs.
