Court File and Parties

Newmarket Court File No.: FC-04-18706-02 Date: 20200429 Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Between:

Marc James Carter Applicant – AND – Deborah Elizabeth Carter Respondent

Counsel: Self-Represented (for the Applicant) J. Cox, Counsel for the Respondent

Heard: April 29, 2020, In Writing

Ruling on Urgent Motion Request

JARVIS J.

[1] As a result of COVID-19 regular Superior Court of Justice operations are suspended at this time as set out in the Notice to Profession, the Public and Media Regarding Civil and Family Proceedings of the Chief Justice of Ontario. See the Notice to the Profession dated March 15, 2020, as revised on April 2, 2020 [“the Chief’s Notice”].

[2] The respondent (“the wife”) [1] has brought an urgent motion to, among other things, annul the husband’s bankruptcy. I have had extensive involvement in this matter, so the motion has been brought to my attention. The wife’s concern relates to recent information that came to her attention that the husband’s Trustee in Bankruptcy (Gregory Judd) was proposing to hold a Meeting of Creditors that could lead to the distribution of the bankrupt’s estate and the bankrupt’s discharge. After contact with the wife’s lawyer, it appears that the Trustee agreed to postpone the meeting.

[3] The wife’s motion and supporting material were served on the husband, the Trustee and the Superintendent of Bankruptcy by email on April 21, 2020. None has responded. The material filed does not comply with the April 17, 2020 Revised Notice to the Profession that restricts Urgent Motion requests for a motion or case conference to four pages, inclusive of exhibits: the wife filed a six-page affidavit with sixty-four pages of exhibits of which sixteen pages comprise a Ruling that I made in these proceedings on December 5, 2019. The evidence in the wife’s affidavit does, however, meet the urgency requirement in the Chief’s Notice dealing with non-depletion relief.

[4] I have been involved with this matter since April 2019. There have been several attendances before me and Rulings made, the last of which led to an Order of imprisonment of the husband for misleading, among many others, including his Trustee, the court about his financial circumstances. The husband failed to disclose the existence of offshore assets when he made an Assignment in Bankruptcy in October 2016. And he continued afterwards to misrepresent his financial circumstances resulting in protracted efforts to track his financial steps from Canada to the United States to the Cook Islands, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Switzerland and quite possibly other jurisdictions.

[5] It is not clear from the wife’s affidavit whether Mr. Judd has been provided with a copy of my December 5, 2019 Ruling, although I suspect that was done by Mr. Cox. In any event, the Trustee should not be distributing any of the bankrupt’s assets until further Order of the Court. Non-depletion of the husband’s assets is the only urgency to the wife’s motion. I am only prepared to overlook her breach of the CER practice direction in that respect; the balance of the relief sought can be addressed when the court re-opens.

[6] Accordingly, the following is ordered:

(a) The Trustee (Gregory Judd) shall not distribute any of the assets of the bankrupt until further Order of the Court;

(b) The Trustee shall provide to all creditors of the bankrupt, including the wife, a complete and detailed accounting of the bankrupt’s assets, including all assets received and realized and disposition of funds by May 29, 2020;

(c) The wife shall serve on the bankrupt’s Trustee, the Superintendent of Bankruptcy and Canada Revenue Agency copies of all Orders and Rulings made in this matter from and after the Order of Sutherland J. dated February 6, 2019 and shall electronically file with the court an affidavit of service afterwards; and

(d) Any party may seek further directions from me when it is made known when the courts will re-open and the range of permitted matters expanded to include the relief sought by the wife in her motion.

[7] In the circumstances of the COVID-19 emergency, these directions are deemed to be an Order of the Court that is operative and enforceable without any need for a signed or entered, formal, typed Order. Approval is dispensed with: the wife may submit a formal Order for signing and entry once the court re-opens.

[8] Court Administration shall send a copy of this Ruling to the husband, the Trustee in Bankruptcy and the Superintendent of Bankruptcy at the email or facsimile addresses identified in the wife’s affidavits of service for her motion materials. The wife should do likewise.

Justice David A. Jarvis

Date: April 29, 2020

Footnote:

[1] The parties are divorced but as their family law proceedings remain unresolved, they shall be referenced as “wife” and “husband” consistent with the court’s prior endorsements.