SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO

COURT FILE NO.: CV-15-534009

DATE: 20151127

RE: Nagy Riad, Applicant

AND:

Ontario College of Pharmacists, Respondent

BEFORE: R. F. Goldstein J.

HEARD: October 23, 2015 and by written submissions

APPEARANCE:
Mr. Riad, on his own behalf

Karen Jones, for the Ontario College of Pharmacists

COSTS ENDORSEMENT

[1] Mr. Riad is a serial filer of merit-less applications and motions. He has been declared a vexatious litigant. He applied to the Superior Court for leave to appeal a decision of the Executive Committee of the Ontario College of Pharmacists. The application was completely without merit. I dismissed it on October 23, 2015. I invited costs submissions in writing of one page or less. The College, represented by reputable counsel, fully complied with my direction and seeks only $3500 in costs against Mr. Riad.

[2] Mr. Riad ignored my direction to limit his submissions to one page. He filed a two-paged, single spaced letter that complained about the process. He did not address the question of costs. I do not find that surprising, as Mr. Riad routinely ignores judicial direction and just as routinely fails to pay costs orders.

[3] The guiding principle in matters of costs is that the court should set an amount that is fair and reasonable in the circumstances: Boucher v. Public Accountants Council for Ontario, 2004 14579 (Ont.C.A.), 71 O.R. (3d) 291, [2004] O.J. No. 2643 (C.A.).

[4] The amount requested by the College is more than fair to Mr. Riad, and reasonable by any measure. It is, perhaps, less than he should pay and surely represents an amount that does not come close to representing the real costs incurred by this important professional regulator with a mandate to protect the public. The College may well have limited its request, knowing full well that the chances of collecting are slim.

[5] Accordingly, in all the circumstances, I award $3500.00 in costs to the College.

R. F. Goldstein J.

Date: November 27, 2015