Lapchuk v. Saskatchewan et al., 2015 SKQB 28

• Judge: Kraus, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: January 29, 2015
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2015 SKQB 28;(2015), 468 Sask.R. 166 (QB)

Lapchuk v. Sask. (2015), 468 Sask.R. 166 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] Sask.R. TBEd. FE.030

David Brian Lapchuk (plaintiff) v. The Government of Saskatchewan and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Saskatchewan as Represented by the Minister of the Department of Highways for the Province of Saskatchewan and Tom Davies and Scott Kreutzer and Brendon Pylatuk and Lyle Heinemann and Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union and Larry Buchinski (defendants)

(2014 QB No. 1453; 2015 SKQB 28)

Indexed As: Lapchuk v. Saskatchewan et al.

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Regina

Kraus, J.

January 29, 2015.

Summary:

The plaintiff applied to amend his statement of claim and for an order that the amended claim be "unsealed".

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the application in part.

Practice - Topic 1466

Pleadings - Statement of claim - General - Omission of essential facts - Effect of - The plaintiff applied to amend his statement of claim to add a claim of conspiracy - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the application, stating, "The additional claim of conspiracy is unfounded in fact and in law, and it is not reasonably probable that the tort of conspiracy can succeed. ... In my view, the plaintiff's grievance is within the purview of the labour relations board and not of this Court. ... Moreover, the facts plead by the plaintiff fail to describe the identity of the parties and their relationships to each other, to allege the agreement between the defendants to conspire and its objects, and to set out the overt acts allegedly done in the furtherance of the conspiracy. ... Nor can the plaintiff rely upon the possibility that new facts may turn up as the litigation proceeds" - See paragraph 9.

Practice - Topic 1466

Pleadings - Statement of claim - General - Omission of essential facts - Effect of - The plaintiff applied to amend his statement of claim to add a claim of abuse of process - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the application, stating, "The claim of abuse of process is unsupported by any alleged facts, only the cause of action being pleaded. The plaintiff has failed to meet the test for this tort. ... The plaintiff has not alleged any fact showing a legal process initiated against him by the Government Defendants. The facts which are alleged by the plaintiff respecting SGEU and Larry Buchinski ... are deficient in failing to allege that SGEU and Larry Buchinski initiated a court action against the plaintiff. ... To the contrary, it is the plaintiff who has initiated this action against the defendants." - See paragraph 10.

Practice - Topic 1466

Pleadings - Statement of claim - General - Omission of essential facts - Effect of - The plaintiff applied to amend his statement of claim to add a claim of unlawful interference in economic relations - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the application, stating, "The tort of unlawful interference in economic relations requires that unlawful action be directed against a third party and not against the plaintiff. ... Here, none of the defendants are third parties; the plaintiff has failed to plead the requisite facts to enable this tort to be added to his claim which cannot succeed, in my view" - See paragraph 11.

Practice - Topic 2110

Pleadings - Amendment of pleadings - Adding new cause of action or "claim" - [See all Practice - Topic 1466 ].

Practice - Topic 2143

Pleadings - Amendment of pleadings - Circumstances when amendment denied - [See all Practice - Topic 1466 ].

Torts - Topic 5026

Interference with economic relations - Elements of liability - Practice - [See third Practice - Topic 1466 ].

Torts - Topic 5702

Conspiracy - General - Pleadings - [See first Practice - Topic 1466 ].

Torts - Topic 6251

Abuse of legal procedure - Abuse of process - General - [See second Practice - Topic 1466 ].

Cases Noticed:

Dundee Realty Corp. v. Regina (City), [2014] Sask.R. Uned. 19; 2014 SKQB 73, refd to. [para. 9].

Huerto v. Salte et al. (2014), 444 Sask.R. 127; 2014 SKQB 127, refd to. [para. 9].

British Columbia v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. et al., [2011] 3 S.C.R. 45; 419 N.R. 1; 308 B.C.A.C. 1; 521 W.A.C. 1; 2011 SCC 42, refd to. [para. 9].

Kvello et al. v. Miazga et al., [2009] 3 S.C.R. 339; 395 N.R. 115; 337 Sask.R. 260; 464 W.A.C. 260; 2009 SCC 51, refd to. [para. 10].

Akin (J.C.) Architect Ltd. et al. v. Reisinger et al. (2012), 398 Sask.R. 149; 2012 SKQB 225, refd to. [para. 10].

Magno v. Lariviere, 2014 ONSC 705, refd to. [para. 10].

Mallard v. Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission et al. (2014), 438 Sask.R. 316; 608 W.A.C. 316; 2014 SKQB 78, refd to. [para. 11].

Counsel:

D. Barth, for the plaintiff;

K. McCreary, for the Government defendants;

H. Robertson, for the defendants, SGEU and Larry Buchinski.

This application was heard by Kraus, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Regina, who delivered the following judgment on January 29, 2015.