British Columbia Decisions on Costs

• Author: David A. Potts; Erin Stoik
• Pages: 348-358

348

 34

British Columbia Decisions on Costs

Justice Donegan of the British Columbia Supreme Court has delivered two

very useful decisions on costs in anti-SLAPP proceedings that are of value to

lawyers in British Columbia and Ontario:

• Hobbs v Warner, 2020 BCSC 1180

• Hobbs v Warner, 2019 BCSC 2196

The subjects of costs pursuant to sections 137.1(7) and (8) and of awarding

damages against a plaintif‌f under section 137.1(9) of the Courts of Justice Act,

RSO 1990, c L.12, has been covered in a separate section. It is our view that

this decision, being the f‌irst from British Columbia and more importantly

covering many procedural points, should be examined in toto.

In Hobbs v Warner, 2019 BCSC 2196, Donegan J found at para 248:

[248] The defendant’s application to dismiss this action under s. 4 of the PPPA

is granted, with costs to the defendant on the application and in the proceed-

ing, assessed as costs on a full indemnity basis. The defendant’s application

for an award of damages under s. 8 is dismissed.

Justice Donegan ordered that the plaintif‌fs pay the defendant his costs on

a full indemnity basis under section 7 of the Protection of Public Participation

Act, SBC 2019, c 3 [PPPA]: see paras 226–39. The judge was guided by the

Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Fortress Real Developments Inc v Rabidoux,

2018 ONCA 686: see paras 227–29.

REQUEST FOR DAMAGES AWARDED AGAINST THE PLAINTIFFS

UNDER SECTION 

The court’s ability to award damages against a plaintif‌f is set out in Protection

of Public Participation Act, SBC 2019, c 3, s 8: