Ted Brooks

Following their successful defence against a motion to add them as third parties, the Proposed Defendants sought partial indemnity costs.

The moving party, Security National, argued the Proposed Defendants were merely intervenors and not entitled to costs.

The court found that the Proposed Defendants had standing and, even if considered intervenors, met the exception to the general rule against awarding costs to intervenors due to their significant interests and necessary participation.

The court awarded partial indemnity costs of $5,328 to People on Bikes and Gord Townley, and $2,667 to His Majesty the King.

This motion addressed Security National's request to add additional defendants (People on Bikes, Gordon Townley, and His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario) to an existing third-party claim, almost six years after the incident and after the expiry of the statutory limitation period.

The court determined that the applicable rule for adding parties to an existing claim was Rule 5.04(2), not Rule 29.02(1.2), which required considering prejudice to both the plaintiff and the proposed new parties.

The court found that Security National failed to demonstrate that the information regarding the proposed defendants was not discoverable earlier with due diligence, thus prejudicing the proposed defendants due to the expired limitation period.

Furthermore, the court found that allowing the motion would cause significant delay and increased costs, resulting in actual prejudice to the plaintiff, Erin Townley, who has suffered serious injuries and seeks closure.

The court also noted the questionable merit of the claim against uninsured proposed parties.

Consequently, Security National's motion was denied.