Damages - Section 137.1(9)

• Author: David A. Potts; Erin Stoik
• Pages: 339-347

339

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Damages—Section 137.1(9)

LEGISLATION

Courts of Justice Act, RSO 1990 c C43:

137.1(9) If, in dismissing a proceeding under this section, the judge f‌inds that

the responding party brought the proceeding in bad faith or for an improper

purpose, the judge may award the moving party such damages as the judge

considers appropriate.

DAMAGES AWARDED

Explanation of Section .() by the Ontario Court of Appeal

United Soils Management Ltd v Mohammed, 2019 ONCA 128 is a decision by

the Ontario Court of Appeal relating to two appeals that were heard together.

The cases originated with defamation actions by United Soils Management

Ltd (United Soils) against two individuals—Katie Mohammed and Kayt Bar-

clay— who expressed concerns on social media about the expansion of the

company’s dumping rights at a gravel pit it operated and the ef‌fect on the

local water supply. Both Mohammed and Barclay brought motions under

section 137.1, which were granted and the actions against them dismissed.

United Soils appealed both decisions. After f‌inding that both proceed-

ings had been properly dismissed by the motion court judges, Doherty JA

reviewed the awards of damages and considered the proper application of

section 137.1(9) at paras 30–33:

[30] The motion judge awarded Ms. Mohammed damages of $7,500. In

doing so he found that prior motions brought by the appellant were “an

objective demonstration of improper purpose”: Mohammed, at para. 78. The

motion judge also pointed out that the appellant instituted the proceeding