Court File and Parties
Court File No.: CV-19-00080839-0000 Date: 2020-02-20 Superior Court of Justice - Ontario
Re: Maximus Payne, Plaintiff And Souhaira Raydan, Defendant
Before: The Honourable Justice C.T. Hackland
Counsel: The Plaintiff, in person Albert Brunet, for the Defendant
Heard: February 13, 2020
Endorsement
[1] The plaintiff has commenced this action against the defendant, who is his sister, alleging that she has defamed him by spreading false information about him to various police and security organizations and has maliciously laid an information before a Justice of the Peace, resulting in his confinement in a mental hospital for observation.
[2] The plaintiff has brought a motion before the court, seeking orders to produce documents concerning himself in the possession of the Ottawa Police Service, the RCMP, CSIS and the CSE.
[3] I note that the plaintiff’s entire statement of claim consists of one paragraph, as follows:
- The plaintiff claims: a. That the intentional torts of the defendant caused, and continue to cause, emotional suffering as direct result of the misconduct of the defendant. The plaintiff was obliged to resign multiple of times from his job, which led the plaintiff to file for bankruptcy; b. The defendant’s actions caused the plaintiff to be a subject to surveillance under the terrorism and espionage act, which led to cause serious damages to the plaintiff; c. To resolve this matter under section 17 and 18(2) of the Libel and Slander Act.
[4] The defendant was noted in default. However, she is represented by counsel on this motion and seeks to have the default proceeding set aside with leave to file a statement of defense. She also asks the court to consider whether the action is vexatious, frivolous and an abuse of process pursuant to rule 2.1.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
[5] It can be seen from the statement of claim quoted above that it is devoid of any factual basis and is therefore frivolous and vexatious in its present form. I exercise the court’s discretion to strike this statement of claim with leave to amend with a new pleading, complying with the Rules of Civil Procedure, particularly rules 25.06(1) and 25.06(8).
[6] The amended statement of claim must be served within thirty days of the release of this endorsement, failing which this action will be permanently stayed. The defendant may file her statement of defense within thirty days of receipt of the plaintiff’s amended statement of claim or may bring a further motion within that time, if so advised.
[7] The court will not entertain any motions for document production until the pleadings are closed and affidavits of documents have been exchanged.
[8] The defendant has requested the court to proceed under rule 2.1.01. I am not persuaded that this rule is properly invoked in the present circumstances. The plaintiff argued at the return of this motion that the defendant made a defamatory and bad faith complaint about him to a Justice of the Peace, thereby resulting in him being wrongfully confined in a psychiatric facility. As noted above, I will permit the plaintiff to amend his statement of claim to properly plead these allegations.
[9] There will be no order as to costs of this motion.
Justice Charles T. Hackland Date: February 20, 2020