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Case information

Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.


38140

Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie v. Wanda Labanowicz

(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)
2019-05-07 Close file on Leave
2019-05-07 Correspondence received from, the respondent. Costs have been settled between the parties, notice of taxation and bill of costs are no longer required. Wanda Labanowicz
2019-02-14 Bill of costs, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2019-02-14 Wanda Labanowicz
2019-01-11 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2019-01-11 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2019-01-10 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 C63405, 2018 ONCA 343, dated April 10, 2018, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2018-11-26 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2018-08-16 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Letter Form), Original rec'd 2018/08/21, Completed on: 2018-08-16 Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie
2018-08-07 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), Amended certificate required-rec'd 2018/08/09 Wanda Labanowicz
2018-08-07 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2018-08-07 Wanda Labanowicz
2018-06-06 Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED 2018/06/06
2018-06-05 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie
2018-06-05 Notice of name, (Letter Form) Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie
2018-06-05 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), (2 volumes), 1 copy missing-rec'd 2018/06/06, Completed on: 2018-06-06 Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie

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
Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Labanowicz, Wanda Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Municipal Corporation of the Town of Fort Erie

Counsel
Kevin McGivney
John Hunter
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 4E3
Telephone: (416) 367-6000
FAX: (416) 367-6749
Email: kmcgivney@blg.com
Agent
Nadia Effendi
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
World Exchange Plaza
100 Queen Street, suite 1300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1J9
Telephone: (613) 787-3562
FAX: (613) 230-8842
Email: neffendi@blg.com

Party: Labanowicz, Wanda

Counsel
Loretta P. Merritt
Torkin Manes LLP
151 Yonge Street
Suite 1500
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 2W7
Telephone: (416) 777-5404
FAX: (888) 497-8644
Email: lmerritt@torkinmanes.com
Agent
Christopher C. Rootham
Nelligan O'Brien Payne LLP
50 O'Connor Street
Suite 300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6L2
Telephone: (613) 231-8311
FAX: (613) 788-3667
Email: christopher.rootham@nelliganlaw.ca

Summary

Keywords

Torts — Duty of Care — Occupier’s liability — Municipalities — Recreational use of land — Whether interpretation of “reckless disregard” applicable across Canada in legislation determining occupiers’ liability for premises where users willingly assume their own risk, including recreational trails, improperly lowers standard to simple negligence contrary to legislative intent — Whether interpretation of “reckless disregard” creates inconsistent jurisprudence and uncertainty for occupiers?

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.

On July 31, 2006, Ms. Labanowicz was riding a bicycle on a trail in Fort Erie. Where the trail intersected roads, the Town had installed bollards. A wooden post had been removed from one of the bollards, leaving its metal sleeves exposed. Ms. Labanowicz’s bicycle struck the sleeves and she flew off her bicycle. She suffered injuries. The trial judge found the Town of Fort Erie liable pursuant to s. 4(1) of the Occupiers Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.2, and awarded $995,000 in damages and interest. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal.

Lower court rulings

January 27, 2017
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

CV-08-359836, 2016 ONSC 630

Finding of liability, damages awarded

April 10, 2018
Court of Appeal for Ontario

C63405, 2018 ONCA 343

Appeal dismissed

Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal

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 filing 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

Factums on appeal

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

Webcasts

Not available.

Date modified: 2025-02-27