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Case information

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36100

Darren Stewart, et al. v. TD General Insurance Company

(Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2015-05-20 Close file on Leave
2015-05-20 Certificate of taxation issued to, Mr. Dwain Carlton Burns
2015-05-20 Decision on the bill of costs, in the amount of $1,834.89, DeRg
2015-05-20 Submission of the bill of costs, DeRg
2015-01-23 Bill of costs, Completed on: 2015-01-23 TD General Insurance Company
2015-01-16 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2015-01-16 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2015-01-15 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number M43608, dated July 18, 2014, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2014-12-15 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, Ro Cro Mo
2014-10-31 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, Completed on: 2014-10-31 Darren Stewart
2014-10-23 Correspondence received from, Keith Millikin dated 2014-10-23. Re: Error in paragraph 21 of the application (page 32) Darren Stewart
2014-10-23 Certificate (on limitations to public access) TD General Insurance Company
2014-10-23 Notice of name TD General Insurance Company
2014-10-23 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, Completed on: 2014-10-23 TD General Insurance Company
2014-09-30 Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal, File opened on 2014-09-30
2014-09-29 Certificate (on limitations to public access) Darren Stewart
2014-09-29 Application for leave to appeal, C/A reasons missing - Rec'd on 2014-10-15, Completed on: 2014-10-15 Darren Stewart

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Stewart, Darren Applicant Active
Miller, Vanessa Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
TD General Insurance Company Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Stewart, Darren

Counsel
Name
Keith R. Millikin
Contact information
Guyatt, Gaasenbeek & Millikin
250 - 69 John Street South
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N 2B9
Telephone: (905) 528-8369
FAX: (905) 528-8066
Email: keith@ggmlaw.ca
Agent
Name
Marie-France Major
Contact information
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Party: Miller, Vanessa

Counsel
Name
Keith R. Millikin
Contact information
Guyatt, Gaasenbeek & Millikin
250 - 69 John Street South
Hamilton, Ontario
L8N 2B9
Telephone: (905) 528-8369
FAX: (905) 528-8066
Email: keith@ggmlaw.ca
Agent
Name
Marie-France Major
Contact information
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Party: TD General Insurance Company

Counsel
Names
Dwain Carlton Burns
Cynthia Jones
Contact information
Sigurdson Courtlander Burns & Smagata
400 - 5045 South Service Road
Burlington, Ontario
L7L 5Y7
Telephone: (905) 315-5804
FAX: (905) 315-1083
Agent
Name
K. Scott McLean
Contact information
Dentons Canada LLP
1420 - 99 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1H4
Telephone: (613) 783-9600
FAX: (613) 783-9690
Email: scott.mclean@dentons.com

Summary

Keywords

None.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.


Charter of Rights – Right to equality – Right to security of the person – Insurance – Property insurance – Insurance company paying insureds for eleven stolen medical marijuana plants – Insureds suing insurance company for damages – Does the law permit an Ontario insurer to deny coverage for loss of personal property on the basis that it is not usual, where the law has recognized that access to such property for an identified class of persons is protected by the Charter? – If so, is that denial prohibited as discriminatory by the Ontario Human Rights Code?
– Is that part of the contract relied upon contrary to public policy? – Does the law permit a court, exercising its common law jurisdiction in the interpretation of a contract where Charter values are implicated, to interpret that contract without consideration of Charter values?

The applicants insured the contents of their residence with the respondent insurer. Mr. Stewart has licences to possess and cultivate medical marijuana on his property. On September 22, 2009 and again on June 21, 2010, a total of eleven marijuana plants were stolen from his backyard. He made a claim under his policy and was paid $6,000 for the first theft and $5,000 for the second – one thousand dollars for each plant. The applicants commenced two actions claiming compensation for the value of the plants, and damages of $360,000 for breach of contract, mental stress and physical pain, breach of fiduciary duty and infliction of mental and physical suffering. TD General brought a motion under Rule 21 to determine a question of law raised by the pleadings. The applicants moved for summary judgment on liability and to strike portions of the statement of defence that disputed liability. The parties agreed that the motions judge should interpret the insurance contract.

Lower court rulings

March 4, 2014
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

13/454, 2014 ONSC 854

Applicants’ appeal dismissed

July 18, 2014
Court of Appeal for Ontario

M43608

Applicants’ motion for leave to appeal dismissed

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

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Date modified: 2025-02-27