I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah and are continuing to enjoy the holidays.

Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario released during the week of December 23. There were more than we had been expecting!

In Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v. Ferrier, the Court examined the open court principle in the context of police disciplinary hearings and determined that freedom of expression under the Charter was to be considered in determining whether such a hearing should be open to the public or held in camera. The matter was remitted back to the decision maker for reconsideration in accordance with the Court's reasons.

In Morwald-Benevides v. Benevides, the Court discussed the principles governing the appointment of amicus curiae in private family law cases.

Congratulations to Blaneys' own Sheldon Inkol for successfully responding to an appeal in a condominium law matter.

Other topics covered this week included the right of appeal in receivership matters under the BIA, punitive damages for defamation, malicious prosecution, administrative law in the mining law context, breach of contract and breach of confidence.

I wanted to thank all our readers for yet another great year. Our readership continues to climb, thanks, in no small measure, to the good word of all you who follow our blog.

As many of you may know, my partner, Lea Nebel and I have been chairing the last few years a CLE at the OBA of "Top Appeals" from the Court of Appeal over the past year. The program will be a dinner program to take place at the OBA on Thursday, February 27, 2020, so please mark your calendars! Two of the cases we will be featuring this year are Darmar Farms v Sygenta, which deals with the potential new tort of "premature commercialization" and pure economic loss in product liability context, and The Guarantee Company of North America v Royal Bank of Canada regarding the priority of construction trust claims in bankruptcy. We are also lining up our speakers for a third decision that will be featured, so please stay tuned.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2020!

Table of Contents

Civil Decisions

Cable Assembly Systems Ltd. v. Barnes, 2019 ONCA 1013

Keywords:  Torts, Defamation, Damages, Punitive Damages, Whiten v. Pilot Insurance Co., 2002 SCC 18, Pate Estate v. Galway-Cavendish (Township), 2013 ONCA 669, Filice v. Complex Services Inc., 2018 ONCA 625

Comfort Capital Inc. v Yeretsian, 2019 ONCA 1017

Keywords:  Bankruptcy and Insolvency, Receiverships, Civil Procedure, Judgments, Enforcement, Appeals, Courts of Justice Act, RSO 1990, c C 43, s 6(1)(b), Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, RSC 1985, c B-3, s 193, 2403177 Ontario Inc v Bending Lake Iron Group Ltd., 2016 ONCA 225

Glen Schnarr & Associates Inc. v. Vector (Georgetown) Limited, 2019 ONCA 1012

Keywords:  Contracts, Breach, Civil Procedure, Arbitration, Limitation Periods, Arbitration Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 17, s 7(1), Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. c.43, s. 106, Haas v. Gunasekaram, 2016 ONCA 744, Dell Computer Corp. v. Union des consommateurs, 2007 SCC 34

Angus v. Port Hope (Municipality), 2019 ONCA 1015

Keywords:  By-Law, Property, Malicious Prosecution, Misfeasance, Abuse of Public Office

CTT Pharmaceutical Holdings, Inc. v. Rapid Dose Therapeutics Inc., 2019 ONCA 1018

Keywords:  Torts, Breach of Confidence, Lysko v. Braley, [2006] O.J. No. 1137 (ONCA), The Catalyst Capital Group Inc. v. VimpelCom Ltd., 2019 ONCA 354

Morwald-Benevides v. Benevides, 2019 ONCA 1023

Keywords:  Family Law, Civil Procedure, Amicus Curiae, Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43, s. 112, New Brunswick (Minister of Health and Community Services) v. G.(J.), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 46, Ontario v. Criminal Lawyers' Association of Ontario, 2013 SCC 43, R. v. Imona-Russel, 2019 ONCA 252, Zomparelli v. Conforti, 2018 ONSC 610, C.C.O. v. J.J.V., 2019 ABCA 292, R. v. G. (S.G.), [1997] 2 S.C.R. 716, R. v. Harrer, [1995] 3 S.C.R. 562, Dujardin v. Dujardin, 2018 ONCA 597, Gionet v. Pingue, 2018 ONCA 1040, Davids v. Davids (1999),125 O.A.C. 375

Treelawn Capital Corp. v. IAMGOLD Corporation, 2019 ONCA 1022

Keywords:  Administrative Law, Mining Law, Contracts, Civil Procedure, Concurrent Jurisdiction, Mining Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.14, s. 181

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v Ferrier, 2019 ONCA 1025

Keywords:  Administrative Law, Police Services, Civil Procedure, Open Court Principle, Freedom of Expression, Standard of Review, Police Services Act, RSO 1990, c P15, s 35(3), s 83(17), Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 2(b), Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., [1994] 3 SCR 835, R v Mentuck, 2001 SCC 76, Dunsmuir v New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9, Langenfeld v Toronto Police Services Board, 2019 ONCA 716, Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65

Short Civil Decisions

Swan v. Durham Condominium Corporation No. 45 (Appeal Book Endorsement), 2019 ONCA 1016

Keywords:  Real Property, Condominiums, Compliance Orders, Civil Procedure, Res Judicata, Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19, ss. 85(1) and 134(1)

Criminal Decisions

R. v. W., 2019 ONCA 1014

Keywords:  Criminal Law, Manslaughter, Sentencing, R. v. Devaney, 213 C.C.C. (3d) 264, R. v. Almarales, 2008 ONCA 692

R. v. B., 2019 ONCA 1024

Keywords:  Criminal Law, Evidence, Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, ss. 676(1)(a), R. v. J.M.H., 2011 SCC 45, R. v. Rudge, 2011 ONCA 791, R. v. Graveline, 2006 SCC 16, R. v. Curry, 2014 ONCA 174, R. v. Knezevic, 2016 ONCA 914

Ontario Review Board Decisions

K (Re), 2019 ONCA 1021

Keywords: Ontario Review Board, Not Criminally Responsible, Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Conditional Discharge

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