Judgement (Sufficient Reasons)

Ontario Football Conference v. Brampton Minor Football Association, 2020 ONSC 1061 (CanLII)

The Nature of this Proceeding

[1] The Defendant, Brampton Minor Football Association (“BMFA”), appeals to the Divisional Court from the Judgment (a final order) of the Honourable Deputy Judge of the Small Claims Court dated May 22, 2018.

[2] Although the Notice of Appeal seeks other relief, in oral argument at Brampton on February 14, 2020, counsel for the BMFA clarified that the remedy sought is a new trial.

[3] This is a relatively rare instance where the other two parties to the litigation, (i) the Plaintiff, Ontario Football Conference (“OFC”), and (ii) the added Defendant or Third Party, Ian Smith (“Smith), also agree that the Judgment cannot stand, though for different reasons than those advanced by the BMFA. The OFC and Smith have both cross-appealed on the issue of costs in the Court below.

[14] The BMFA argues that the Deputy Judge (i) denied it procedural fairness and natural justice in deciding the case in the absence of considering its lengthy written closing submissions dated December 20, 2017 and (ii) delivered insufficient reasons.

[23] The fundamental principles associated with the administration of justice and civil procedure include the need to ensure that justice not only be done but be seen to be done, following a procedure that is just and fair. The duty of procedural fairness requires that litigants have the opportunity to present their case fully and fairly. Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 1999 CanLII 699 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817 (S.C.C.), at paragraph 28; Ariston Realty Corp. v. Elcarim Inc., [2007] O.J. No. 1497 (S.C.J.), at paragraph 29.

[24] None of us really knows what happened here. It was, undoubtedly, an innocent mishap that may have been contributed to by the manner in which the BMFA’s closing submissions were filed, or an incorrect court file number attached to those submissions, or something else. It matters not. Though entirely unintentional, there was a clear and serious denial of procedural fairness.