Requests To Inspect Documents "Cannot Be Used As A Fishing Rod"

Mask v. Silvercorp Metals Inc., 2014 ONSC 4161.

Mask, a shareholder, sought the required leave to bring an action for misrepresentation in secondary market disclosure under Part XXIII.1 of the Securities Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S-5 ("OSA") against Silvercorp Metals Inc., which he intended to certify as a class action.

Silvercorp filed a number of affidavits opposing the leave motion. Prior to cross-examining Silvercorp's affiants, Mask brought a motion to inspect confidential documents alluded to but not included in those affidavits.

Justice Belobaba denied Mask's request to inspect. He held that a request to inspect "cannot be used as a fishing rod" to carry out discovery, and affirmed the court's discretion to deny such motions, especially before cross-examinations have been conducted in a leave motion. Justice Belobaba further added that any Request to Inspect Documents must be restricted in scope and content to a "manageable dimension". This "manageable