Ryan Flewelling

Following the dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims of elder abuse and civil fraud, the successful defendants sought their costs of the action.

The court found that the plaintiffs engaged in reprehensible conduct by pursuing baseless allegations of fraud, deceit, and misappropriation against the defendants.

Consequently, the court awarded the defendants partial indemnity costs up to the date of trial and substantial indemnity costs thereafter, fixing the total costs award at $100,000.

The plaintiffs, a mother and daughter, brought an action against the mother's son, his spouse, and their son, alleging that the son misappropriated £67,000 from a joint bank account.

The defendants argued that the funds were a valid inter vivos gift.

The court found that the funds belonged to the mother and that she intended to gift them to her son and grandson.

The court also dismissed claims of undue influence, breach of fiduciary duty, and false representations, concluding that the mother's decision was made freely and with full capacity.

The action was dismissed.

The plaintiff contractor brought a motion for summary judgment for unpaid invoices and breach of trust under the Construction Lien Act.

The corporate defendant conceded liability for the invoices.

The issue was whether the individual defendant, the sole directing mind of the corporation, was personally liable for breach of trust under s. 13.

The plaintiff argued that the corporation's rental income used to self-finance the improvements constituted a trust fund under s. 7(1).

The court dismissed the motion against the individual defendant, holding that s. 7(1) requires a distinct fund specifically earmarked for financing the construction, and general revenues do not qualify.

The applicant brought an application against his sister regarding the management of their incapable mother's finances under a continuing power of attorney.

The respondent had sold the mother's house and placed the proceeds in a trust account, refusing the applicant access due to allegations of prior financial mismanagement.

The court directed that the siblings must act jointly as attorneys pursuant to the Substitute Decisions Act.

The court ordered the parties to pass their accounts, open a joint investment account for the sale proceeds, maintain a joint chequing account for the mother's immediate needs, and appointed the Public Guardian and Trustee as litigation guardian for the mother.

Both parties were awarded partial costs payable from the sale proceeds.

The applicant sought relief from the statutory penalty imposed for failing to file an audited municipal campaign financial statement by the deadline under the Municipal Elections Act.

The financial statement had been filed three minutes late and without the required audit due to financial hardship, though the audited version was later filed and materially identical.

The municipality argued that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction to waive the statutory penalty barring the applicant from running in the next municipal election.

The court held that relief could be granted by applying the good‑faith and inadvertence criteria in s. 92(6) of the Act, even where no prosecution had been initiated.

Finding the applicant acted in good faith, committed an error in judgment, and caused no prejudice, the court waived the penalty.