Canada Case Law

Moore v. Capital Sales Limited

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Plaintiff failed to prove on a balance of probabilities that she slipped on a hazard on the Tavern floor or that the Tavern breached its statutory duty; no witness observed any spill and plaintiff's evidence was unreliable and inconsistent (including medical record stating roughhousing); even if a prima facie case were established, the Tavern had a reasonable inspection and maintenance regime; claim dismissed and costs awarded to defendant.

Source excerpt

• Slip and fall
• Duty of care
• Inspection and maintenance regime
• Causation
• Credibility of witnesses
• Adverse inference (deleted surveillance)

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German v. Godbout

Court

Nova Scotia Small Claims Court

The Claimants are entitled to the outstanding contract balance because the contract plus approved extras totalled $19,158.29, the defendant paid $15,000, and the defendant failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the Claimants breached the implied workmanship standard; the defendant's evidence was found not credible, so the counterclaim is dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Breach of contract
• Workmanship standards
• Damages
• Credit for payments
• Credibility of witnesses

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Forrest v. Forrest Estate

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The transfers were valid because the evidence established the three elements of a gift/sale (donative intent, acceptance and delivery) supported by contemporaneous signed transfer documents, receipts and registrations; the presumption of capacity was not rebutted (no medical evidence of incapacity and contemporaneous capacity indicators), and the Applicant failed to establish a relationship of domination to trigger a presumption of undue influence, so the application to invalidate the transfers was dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Inter vivos gift
• Capacity to transfer property
• Undue influence
• Delivery and perfection of gift
• Credibility of witnesses
• Presumption of capacity

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R. v. B.T.R.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court refused to draw an adverse inference from the Crown’s failure to call a counsellor, but gave a brief midtrial instruction to disregard the defence suggestion.

• Adverse inference from failure to call witnesses
• Crown discretion in calling evidence
• Credibility of witnesses
• Midtrial jury instruction
• Adverse-inference
• Witnesses

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Mamaghani v. Hlynski

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The trial judge correctly applied binding precedent that a vendor’s damages may be measured by a reasonable resale price; the resale price here was properly found to be reasonable based on post‑breach offer, the appellants’ valuation, and agent evidence, and the trial judge permissibly accepted credible evidence of modest carrying costs despite absence of receipts; there was no basis to overturn the findings of fact, so the appeal is dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Measure of damages
• Resale and mitigation
• Credibility of witnesses
• Costs

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Bezanson v. Doe

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed a motorcycle rider’s liability claim, finding the plaintiff’s own unnecessary passing maneuver caused the crash, not the unidentified truck driver.

• Causation
• Evasive maneuver vs aggressive driving
• Unidentified driver (john/jane doe)
• Credibility of witnesses
• Statutory duty to locate uninsured/unidentified driver (s.24(5))
• Motor-vehicle-negligence

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Saini v. Pettipas

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

In this motor vehicle negligence trial, the court found the plaintiff entered on a red light, accepted independent eyewitness evidence, and dismissed the claim.

• Traffic signals
• Right of way
• Liability allocation
• Credibility of witnesses
• Costs assessment
• Motor-vehicle-negligence

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Thomson v. A.R. Thomson Group

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed claims that an oral agreement reinstated Lisa Thomson to ARTG, finding no intention to create legal relations and no certainty of essential terms.

• Oral contract
• Agreement to agree
• Intention to create legal relations
• Certainty of terms
• Partnership buyout and reinstatement
• Ratification

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0928772 B.C. Ltd. v. Ross

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court awarded special costs against all defendants, jointly and severally, finding reprehensible litigation conduct including late admissions, disclosure failures, and false testimony.

• Special costs
• Sanctions
• Joint and several liability
• Disclosure obligations
• Admissions
• Credibility of witnesses

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Lonking (China) Machinery Sales Co. Ltd. v. Zhao

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court refused special costs, but awarded Scale B costs to November 15, 2019 and double costs after that date, including this costs application.

• Special costs
• Double costs
• Offers to settle
• Service of process
• Credibility of witnesses
• Equitable set-off of foreign judgments

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