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Small Claims Court - Dismissal for Delay [R11.1.01]. Royal Bank of Canada v. Lendak
In Royal Bank of Canada v. Lendak (Ont Divisional Ct, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from a Small Claims RBC bank action (which had been transferred from the Superior Court - Simplified Procedure), claiming credit line and credit card debt.
Here the court consider the SCC dismissal for delay rule [R11.1.01]:May 4, 2022 – Motion to dismiss
[11] On May 4, 2022, the matter was before Deputy Judge Edmond J. Paquette by way of a motion brought by the appellant seeking a dismissal of the claim pursuant to r. 11.1.01 of the Rules of the Small Claims Court, O. Reg. 258/98.
[12] The appellant took the position that because the claim had been initiated on September 21, 2017 and the action had not been disposed of by order, no step was taken by the plaintiff under r. 11.03 to obtain judgment, and the plaintiff had not set the matter down for trial by the second anniversary of the commencement of the action, that the action should be dismissed for delay.
[13] In dismissing the motion, Deputy Judge Paquette noted that due to various administrative delays the matter was only transferred to the Elliott Lake Small Claims Court in December 2022. In dismissing the motion, Deputy Judge Paquette concluded at para. 7:It appears that the commencement date of the Order of Justice Stinson is when the actual file was received by the Clerk in Elliot Lake. Hence, Rule 11 would not apply until December, 2024 in any event. ....
[48] It is important to note that r. 1.1.01(1) creates a process for administrative dismissals of a Small Claims Court matters, “unless the court orders otherwise”. In this case, there had not been an administrative dismissal of this matter. Administrative dismissals in Small Claims Court were suspended for a period of time during the COVID-19 pandemic and were not resumed by the Ministry of the Attorney General until March 13, 2024. Even if there had been an administrative dismissal, r. 1.1.01(1) provides that the dismissal can be subject to an order of the court that the matter may proceed. In this case, Deputy Judge Paquette found that the matter should proceed to trial.
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