"Unusual" Costs Ruling Raises Access To Justice Issues

Earl Cherniak Q.C. was recently interviewed about a costs ruling that has been through two levels of appeal so far and is now the subject of an application for leave to the Supreme Court of Canada. 

The decision in question is a decision of the Divisional Court of Ontario which delayed the costs award in an appeal until the outcome of a class action certification motion.  Cherniak says that decision was highly unusual, and raised an access to justice issue for the appellants.

"The overwhelmingly common rule is that if you win an appeal, then you're entitled to the costs, irrespective of what the final result might be after the matter is remitted to the original court," explains Cherniak, who is representing the appellants in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of Essex v. Windsor (City) – a pair of class action proceedings where three charities are seeking restitution for licensing and administration fees charged by municipalities that they allege are a tax