Pollard v. New Brunswick Electric Power Commission et al., [1967] N.B. Law News No. 68 (CA)

• Judge: Bridges, C.J.N.B., Ritchie and West, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (New Brunswick)
• Case Date: June 27, 1967
• Jurisdiction: New Brunswick
• Citations: [1967] N.B. Law News No. 68 (CA)

Pollard v. N.B. Power, [1967] N.B. Law News No. 68 (CA)

MLB Law News

William H. Pollard and Anna G. Pollard (plaintiffs/respondents) v. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission (defendant/respondent) and Clarence Carter (defendant/appellant)

and, By a Consolidation Order:

Leonard Venne (plaintiff/respondent) v. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission (defendant/respondent) and Clarence Carter       (defendant/appellant) and Clarence Carter (defendant/appellant)

(Archives RS43/1967)

Indexed As: Pollard v. New Brunswick Electric Power Commission et al.

New Brunswick Supreme Court

Appeal Division

Bridges, C.J.N.B., Ritchie and West, JJ.A.

June 7, 1967.

Summary:

Appeal from judgment reported in N.B. Law News - January 1, 1967 Issue -- # 67-4. [See [1967] N.R. Law News No. 4]

Negligence - Appeal allowed with costs from judgment of Trial Court which found that cause of fire destroying Respondents' home was caused by blasting operations carried out by Appellant, an independent contractor. The evidence as a whole indicates that the cause of the fire could be attributed to either the blasting or defective wiring with equal probability and therefore the plaintiff failed to discharge his onus of proof. West, J.A.: Although Appellant Carter was definitely negligent, there is no evidence that clearly establishes that this negligence caused the fire. There was insufficient evidence to justify the inference drawn by the trial judge that the Appellant's negligence was the cause of the fire.

Public Utilities - Topic 15

General - General principles and definitions - Liability of - General - See paragraphs 1 to 34.

Counsel:

Frederick H. Forbes, Q.C. (Forbes, Miller and White), for defendant/appellant, Clarence Carter;

Douglas E. Rice, Q.C., for the plaintiffs/respondents;

Henry E. Ryan, Q.C., (Ryan, MacGowan, Higgins and Case), for the defendant/respondent, The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission.

This case was heard before Bridges, C.J.N.B., Ritchie and West, JJ.A., of the New Brunswick Supreme Court, Appeal Division.

This appeal was delivered on May 17 and June 27, 1967 and the following decisions were filed:

Ritchie, J.A. [Bridges, C.J.N.B., concurring] - see paragraphs 1 to 31;

West, J.A. - see paragraphs 32 to 35.