Tamara B. Center

The applicant sought judicial review of a decision of the Discipline Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario more than two years after the decision was made.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application due to excessive, unexcused delay and the applicant's failure to exhaust adequate alternative remedies, specifically the statutory right to appeal to the Appeal Committee.

The parties consented to an order fixing the costs of the appeal.

The court ordered the appellants to pay $15,000 in costs to the respondent.

The appellants appealed a decision of the Ontario Securities Commission finding they perpetrated a fraud relating to securities and breached their duties as investment fund managers.

The appellants argued the Commission lost jurisdiction when a single commissioner proceeded with the sanctions hearing after the other commissioner's appointment expired.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the Statutory Powers Procedure Act permitted the Commission to override quorum requirements to proceed expeditiously.

The Court also upheld the Commission's findings of fraud, concluding that subjective awareness of the intended consequences could be inferred from the appellants' actions, and affirmed the sanctions imposed, including significant disgorgement orders.

The defendant pleaded guilty to five offences under the Securities Act, including trading in unregistered securities, distributing securities without a prospectus, and violating multiple Cease Trade Orders issued by the Ontario Securities Commission.

The defendant, acting as a commissioned salesman for an unregistered securities scheme, solicited over $220,000 from investors using an alias and received approximately $44,000 in commissions.

The court sentenced the defendant to 18 months imprisonment, with sentences on the CTO violation counts served consecutively to the trading and distribution counts, but concurrent with an existing 27-month sentence for related offences in the Shallow Oil matter.

The appellant appealed a summary judgment dismissing an oppression action against the respondent Lee.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that there was evidence of conduct by Lee that could constitute oppression under s. 248 of the Business Corporations Act, including his involvement in a share purchase agreement, the removal of the deceased as Chair, and threats regarding life insurance policies.

The court held that it was inappropriate to weigh this evidence on a summary judgment motion and set aside the dismissal.

The plaintiff appealed a costs award following a nine-day trial regarding a broker's failure to carry out trading instructions.

The trial judge had awarded the plaintiff solicitor-client costs from the date of an offer to settle, but reduced the claimed amount of $182,183 to $50,000, finding it excessive.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the trial judge erred by effectively applying party and party principles to a solicitor-client costs award without analyzing what conduct by the plaintiff contributed to the trial's length.

The Court fixed the trial costs at $155,000.