Canada Case Law

Ly Innovative Group Inc. v. Facilitate Settlement Corporation

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The motion judge acted within his inherent jurisdiction in adjourning and refusing to sign the Draft Order because the order did not finally resolve all issues and the appellants failed to comply with the settlement terms by not vacating the premises; that failure removed respondents’ consent and justified proceeding to adjudicate the motions. Knowledge of settlement terms alone did not require recusal where the judge did not conduct settlement negotiations, no party objected at the hearing, and no clear evidence established a reasonable apprehension of bias. Fresh evidence about the process…

Source excerpt

• Termination of tenancy
• Rental arrears
• Punitive damages
• Settlement enforcement
• Recusal
• Fresh evidence

Read case analysis

Jean Louis v. Jean Louis

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Application to vary the chambers order was dismissed. The Court found no error in refusing leave to appeal the costs ruling and no reasonable apprehension of bias.

• Costs award
• Leave to appeal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Delay and prejudice
• Standard of review of costs
• Costs-award

Read case analysis

Wang v. Nagin

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed Anand Nagin’s application to set aside an entered order and to disqualify the judge, finding it had no jurisdiction to vary the order and no reasonable apprehension of bias.

• Contempt
• Disqualification of judge
• Functus officio
• Freezing order
• Examination in aid of execution
• Substitutional service

Read case analysis

Sangha (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court rejected an application to recuse the case management judge in a bankruptcy matter, finding no reasonable apprehension of bias from comments or scheduling decisions.

• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Stay of proceedings
• Case management and scheduling
• Lifting stay
• Appeals from trustee decisions
• Annulment of bankruptcy

Read case analysis

S.M.M. v. J.P.H.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a father's recusal application in a high-conflict family case, finding no reasonable apprehension of bias and no cogent evidence of partiality.

• Recusal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Parenting time schedule
• Enforcement and variation of orders
• Reasonable-apprehension-of-bias
• Judicial-recusal

Read case analysis

Kelley-Frost v. MacQuarrie

Court

Nova Scotia Family Court

The recusal motion failed because the Respondent did not provide specific, serious, corroborated evidence of bias, could not identify dates or recordings to support allegations, and did not meet the objective reasonable‑person test against the strong presumption of judicial impartiality; accordingly the judge properly dismissed the motion.

Source excerpt

• Child support variation
• Section 7 post-secondary expenses
• Recusal for bias
• Maintenance and custody act
• Financial disclosure
• Consent orders

Read case analysis

Norton v. Brightwood Golf & Country Club

Court

Nova Scotia Small Claims Court

Although the adjudicator found no automatic legal basis for disqualification based solely on a prior credibility finding, practical fairness and the risk of the bias issue becoming a dispositive sideshow, combined with delay and the need for contiguous evidence (including expert testimony), justified declaring a mistrial and ordering the matter to be reheard before a different adjudicator.

Source excerpt

• Pet injury by golf ball
• Admissibility of veterinary records
• Expert evidence
• Non-suit motion
• Mistrial declaration
• Credibility findings

Read case analysis

El-Guindi v. Liddar

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The appeal was dismissed because the motion judge implicitly considered and rejected the recusal application and there was no evidence of bias; the stay for non-payment of costs was a permissible exercise of discretion under the Rules given the appellants' repeated non‑compliance with costs orders; the judge’s reasons were adequate and there was no evidence of impecuniosity.

Source excerpt

• Stay of proceedings
• Costs orders
• Judicial bias
• Recusal
• Impecuniosity

Read case analysis

Apotex Inc. v. Sanofi-Aventis Inc.

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

Apotex failed to establish serious or substantial grounds for a reasonable apprehension of bias; Justice Snider's prior involvement in related proceedings and her comment regarding a witness's inventiveness did not demonstrate inappropriate predisposition or a definitive credibility finding sufficient to rebut the presumption of judicial impartiality.

Source excerpt

• Obviousness
• Patent infringement
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Pmnoc regulations

Read case analysis

Osmose-Pentox Inc. v. Société Laurentide inc.

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court refused to recuse the prothonotary in this trademark case, finding no reasonable apprehension of bias and holding the motion was untimely.

• Trademark infringement
• Recusal
• Case management
• Dispute resolution conference
• Severance of issues
• Costs

Read case analysis