SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO

B E T W E E N:

GARY DAVID BROWN, AKA GARY DAVID ROBERT BROWN, STATION ATTENDANT EMERITUS

Plaintiff

-and-

LOBLAW COMPANIES LIMITED AND ITS EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO MR. GALEN G. WESTON, ITS EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT AND CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER AND DIRECTOR MR. GORDON A.M. CURRIE, ITS DIRECTOR MR. STEPHEN E. BACHAND, ITS DIRECTOR MR. WARREN BRYANT, ITS DIRECTOR MS. CHRISTIE J.B. CLARK, ITS DIRECTOR MR. ANTHONY S. FELL AN OFFICER OF THE ORDER OF CANADA, ITS DIRECTOR MS. CHRISTIANE GERMAIN, ITS DIRECTOR MR. ANTHONY R. GRAHAM, ITS DIRECTOR MR. JOHN S. LACEY, ITS DIRECTOR MS. NANCY H. O. LOCKHART, ITS DIRECTOR MR. THOMAS C. O'NEILL, ITS DIRECTOR MR. VINCENT TRIUS AND ITS DIRECTOR MR. JOHN D. WETMORE, ITS PRESIDENT'S CHOICE BANK AND ITS CHAIRMAN AND DIRECTOR MR. ANTHONY R. GRAHAM AND ITS DIRECTOR MR. PAUL M. BEESTON, ITS PRESIDENT CHOICE FINANCIAL MASTERCARD DIVISION AND ITS EXECUTIVE CUSTOMER CARE MANAGER MR. TROY VINEOTTE AND MR. KIRC MURASKA, PETER'S NO FRILLS AND ITS OWNER/OPERATOR MR. KOFOED AND BUT WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL ASSIGNS AND AGENTS THEREOF AND ALL HEIRS AND SUCCESSORS OF SAME (“LOBLAWS”)

Defendants

BEFORE: F.L. Myers J.

READ: December 7, 2015

endorsement

[1] By endorsement dated October 21, 2015, reported at 2015 ONSC 6501, the court directed the registrar to send a notice to the plaintiff in Form 2.1A advising him that the court is considering dismissing his action for being frivolous, vexatious, or an abuse of process. The plaintiff has delivered written submissions as he is entitled to do.

[2] The first several pages of the plaintiff’s submissions provide some details from important events in his life over the past 35 years starting with his time served in the Canadian Forces, through his employment with Air Canada, through several dealings with the legal system. He explains his belief that he has been mistreated by those in authority throughout. More than that, his efforts to complain, to expose wrongdoing, or to seek assistance have been ignored. In para. 3.3 of his submissions, he writes:

But what does all this have to do with seeing justice served in my claim against Loblaws? As stated I have been on welfare some 22 years. My longest stretch of homelessness is eight consecutive months and during that period, and since my becoming a resident of Parkdale on July 1, 2013, I met thousands of people who have suffered similar fates. They have been harassed mercilessly anywhere, they have been fired without cause or notice, they have been evicted without cause or notice, they have been arrested and strip-searched and printed without cause, they have had their attempts to start a home-operated business sabotaged, they have had their welfare stopped or reduced, they have been obstructed/discriminated against by their bank, they are deeply in debt, had their property looted, had their lives threatened, had their e-mail accounts hacked, had their phones tapped, had bedbugs, mold and mice in their living quarters, they have told the police of one or more evil acts taken against them to no avail and/or have complained to the Police Board about vex on them by a police officer, again to no avail. They have been sung Canada’s copyright-pending mantra: “It’s not a perfect system” and they know that the LSUC, the Legal Aid Plan, Legal Aid Ontario and their choice of one of ±16 Toronto legal clinics won’t help them when that help is needed most, so they simply resign themselves to their fate and cry or worse. Those who can’t bear it lash out and/or turn to drugs, alcohol or crime. Will his Honour now admit that, “Our system does not work because it is designed NOT to work?”

[3] Mr. Brown writes very eloquently about the plight of many members of society as he perceives it and from his experiences.

[4] Mr. Brown goes on to question why I am the judge on all Rule 2.1 cases. I am the judge on the bulk of these matters in Toronto because the Team Leader – Civil has designated me as the judge to whom the registrar is to send Rule 2.1 requisitions when they arrive in the registrar’s office. Other judges deal with matters that are before them under Rule 2.1 when they find it appropriate to do so. Outside of Toronto, each judicial centre deals with Rule 2.1 requisitions under its own procedures.

[5] Mr. Brown questions why Form 2.1A was sent to him at a local shelter. It was sent to the address that he listed on the backsheet of his Statement of Claim. He has delivered a draft Amended Statement Mr. of Claim that shows a different address. However he did not formally amend his pleading as yet and therefore the registrar was following the Rules of Civil Procedure by sending the form to the address shown on his existing statement of claim.

[6] Mr. Brown also has concerns with the manner in which I summarized my best understanding of his claim and proposed claim in my first endorsement. I now understand better the points he was making.

[7] Mr. Brown raises a concern at para. 8 of his submissions that Loblaws may attempt to invoke the Mental Health Act which likens to Hitler in its power to “arbitrarily arrest and commit anyone who ever: i) may be a harm to others or, ii) may be at harm from others or, iii) may be at harm from themselves.”

[8] Finally, Mr. Brown asks the court to add MasterCard Canada, the City of Toronto and its Police Service as defendants and asks for an order that the defendants jointly pay him $25 million in general damages plus $75 million in punitive or special damages.

[9] While I am not required to answer the question that Mr. Brown posed to me as quoted above, I am prepared to provide one judge’s view of it. I agree with Mr. Brown that our system of civil justice is not designed to allow him to sue others whom he perceives as abusing power in order to right societal wrongs such as curing poverty, solve the growing intrusiveness of society into peoples’ privacy, or to make up for decades of perceived abuse that he has suffered. Nor can the courts replace the mental health system. It is noteworthy that in Mr. Brown’s submissions he mentions several times the efforts he has made to complain to people in authority only to find himself feeling punished for doing so. For example, he copied his submissions in this matter to the offices of: the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General for Canada, the Federal Justice critic, the Attorney General of Ontario, the Chair, Ontario Judicial Council, and the President of the Ontario Bar Association. None of these offices or the court can satisfy Mr. Brown’s requests.

[10] The court does its best to administer the civil justice system in Ontario. It decides civil lawsuits among people, businesses, and government. It applies the law as established under the constitution by Parliament, the Legislature, and the common law. It does so by following the procedures set out in the Rules of Civil Procedure and applying the substantive law to facts properly alleged and then proven in court. It is not designed to let Mr. Brown sue people for $1 or $100 million for his grievances with society in general or his desire to improve the lot of others unless he states a claim that raises a legal issue. There are many ways to air grievances in society. If letter writing to the Prime Minister and the presidents of public corporations does not work, Mr. Brown can try publishing articles in the press or on the internet, making speeches, writing a book, or running for office. There are a myriad of acceptable and effective ways in which one person can help change society. Using the civil justice system as a platform to air sociopolitical grievances however, is not one of them.

[11] Mr. Brown’s statement of claim is frivolous and vexatious and bears the hallmarks of a querulous litigant. Accordingly, it is dismissed without costs. Scaduto v. The Law Society of Upper Canada, 2015 ONCA 733 at para. 8. I dispense with any requirement for Mr. Brown’s approval of the formal order. I also request the registrar to mail a copy of this endorsement to the addresses on Mr. Brown’s statement of claim and on his written submissions. In addition, the registrar should email it to Mr. Brown and counsel if it has their email addresses. Mr. Brown has provided an email address on his submissions.

F.L. Myers J.

Date: December 7 , 2014