Summary Judgment Motion To Be Struck ‘Only In The Clearest Of Cases’

So said Justice Goldstein in Stever v Rainbow International Carpet Dyeing & Cleaning Co, 2013 ONSC 241. The judge noted there that the Ontario Court of Appeal did not address the question of when to stay a summary judgment motion in Combined Air Mechanical v Flesch, 2011 ONCA 764. Guidance is to be found in Ghaffari v Abisyaban, [2012] OJ No 2402 (SCJ), and George Weston v Domtar Inc, 2012 ONSC 5001, which endorse the proposition that a motion to strike a summary judgment should be granted 'only in the clearest of cases' – a phrase with a long judicial history. Litigants are advised, therefore, 'to take a very hard look at the merits of the proposed motion to strike by setting the bar high', with the prospect of costs sanctions as a further deterrent to being too quick to seek to strike.