Court File and Parties

Court File No.: 1665/17

Date: February 12, 2026

Superior Court of Justice – Ontario 491 Steeles Avenue East, Milton, ON L9T 1Y7

Re: The Regional Municipality of Halton, Plaintiff/Responding Party

And: Nicolas Rewa, Marion Rewa, Rewa Consultant Limited, and 1103882 Ontario Limited, Respondents/Moving Parties

Before: RSJ E. Ria Tzimas

Counsel: Ralph Cuervo-Lorens, Counsel for the Plaintiff Talia Gordner, Counsel for the Plaintiff Sezen Izer, Counsel for the Plaintiff Nicolas Rewa, Self-Represented Respondent/Moving Party

Heard: In Writing

Costs Endorsement RE: Motion Returnable June 26, 2025

Introduction

[1] On June 26, 2025, I was scheduled to hear three motions related to the adequacy of Halton's documentary productions in advance of discoveries. One of those motions was brought by Mr. Rewa.

[2] For the reasons discussed in my endorsement of August 1, 2025, see: 2025 ONSC 4503 starting at para. 39, Mr. Rewa's motion was adjourned with costs on a substantial indemnity basis for costs thrown away.

[3] The parties were provided with a timeline to exchange and file their costs submissions. Although Halton served its costs in accordance with the court-ordered timeline, I did not receive Mr. Rewa's costs submissions until a few weeks ago. I understand that there may have been some technical administrative difficulties with the filing of those submissions, specifically in relation to the filing of an affidavit of service. In any event, I accepted Mr. Rewa's late submissions for the purposes of giving him the opportunity to advance his arguments.

[4] For the reasons that follow, I fix costs against Mr. Rewa in the sum of $15,000, payable within 30 days of today's endorsement.

Analysis

[5] The principles that govern the awarding of costs were outlined in my costs decision in relation to the Ohashi motion, which I released on January 12, 2026, see: Halton (Regional Municipality) v. Ohashi et al, 2026 ONSC 866. I rely specifically on paragraphs 6-9 of that decision.

[6] Halton seeks costs thrown away in the sum of approximately $24,590. Mr. Rewa disputes the claim and submits that the submission is highly disproportional. The costs thrown away ought not to exceed approximately $1,100.

[7] Mr. Rewa's submissions are far from compelling. Instead, they raise several serious concerns, which I address below.

[8] First, Mr. Rewa continues to take liberties with the truth and shows absolutely no remorse or appreciation for the magnitude of his improper conduct and his deliberate attempt to mislead the court with non-existent legal authorities. He is wrong to suggest that his motion had to be adjourned because the court was unable to reach it. The motion was adjourned because Mr. Rewa purported to be unwell and said he would be unable to return on the following day. More significantly, the motion also had to be adjourned because of Mr. Rewa's improper conduct as that related to his factum and his anticipated legal submissions. The adjournment had nothing to do with the court's available time, which was set several weeks prior to the hearing dates. The court had set aside two days and but for the noted difficulties, Mr. Rewa's motions would have been heard.

[9] Second, Mr. Rewa's treatment of the costs thrown away and the manner in which he tries to diminish Halton's submissions demonstrates his failure to gain any insight on the severity of his deliberate attempt to mislead the court. He could have used his costs submissions to recognize his errors, but he squandered that opportunity. His overall attitude is one suggesting that his conduct was no big deal.

[10] Third, Mr. Rewa undermined his own credibility over his facility with legal research. At the time of the motion, he tried to justify his error by suggesting that as a self-represented litigant he had limited resources, and he did not appreciate the weaknesses and flaws of resorting to the use of generative AI. Yet in his costs submissions, in his attempt to criticize Halton for the time it required to discover and verify his misleading case citations and legal propositions, Mr. Rewa revealed his very substantive understanding of the Canadian Legal Information Institute