ontario family law arbitrations

203 Pages·2017·1.18 MB·English

by  Brahm Siegel

1

ONTARIO FAMILY LAW ARBITRATIONS
(2018 edition)

BRAHM D. SIEGEL, C.S.
NATHENS, SIEGEL LLP
4950 Yonge Street, Suite 2408
Toronto, ON M2N 6K1

Tel: [phone], ext. 2400
Fax: [phone]
[email protected]
2

EDITOR’S NOTE
In this edition of Ontario Family Law Arbitrations, I’ve added some new
features:
- Cases are now grouped according to one of six themes: “Getting In:
Constituting the Arbitration”; “Getting Even: Procedural Fairness”;
“Getting Out of Court: Stay Cases”; “Getting a Grip: Arbitrator Powers”;
“Getting Another Shot: Appeals”; and “Getting Court Approval:
Enforcement Cases.”

- New cases to this edition are bold-faced in the index starting at page
3.

- Cases which have points or quotes from more than one “theme” are
found in the group which best encapsulates the essence of the case.

- Cases are listed in order of importance and relevance within each
theme.

- For the most part I’ve switched over to CanLII citations. Some cases
were simply easier to leave with Carswell citations and so with those,
laziness prevailed.

- All comments and/or errors are solely mine.

- If you know a case that should be included, please email me.

- If you’d like to have a Word version, please email me.

Enjoy,

Brahm

February 2018
3

GETTING IN: CONSTITUTING THE ARBITRATION Page

Michelon v. Ryder, 2016 ONCJ 327 (Kurz, J.) 8

Horowitz v. Nightingale, 2017 ONSC 2168 (Nelson, J.) 10

McFarland v. McFarland, 2015 ONSC 3379 (Minnema, J.) 12

Amid v. Houdi, 2016 ONSC 2849 (Charney, J.) 14

Wainwright v. Wainwright, 2012 ONSC 2686 (Nolan, J.) 16

Kolupanowicz v. Cunnison, 2009 CanLII 20350 (ON SC) (Quinn, J.) 18

Fishman v. Fishman, 2012 ONSC 4765 (O’Connell, J.) 21

Tameanko v. Goldman, 2014 ONCJ 580 (Curtis, J.) 23

Desjardins v. Gillin, 2015 ONSC 4883 (Corthorn, J.) 25

Starkman v. Starkman, 2011 CarswellOnt 1333 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Sachs, J.) 27

Davies v. Davies, 2011 CarswellOnt 10947 (Ont. S.C.J.) (A.J. Goodman, J.) 28

Lopatowski v. Lopatowski, 2018 ONSC 824 (Gray, J.) 30

Dormer v. McJannet, 2006 CanLII 42670 (ON SC) (Mackinnon, J.) 34

Kay v. Korakianitis, 2007 CanLII 29279 (ON SC) (Murray, J.) 35

C. (M.A.) and D. (C.A.) v. K. (M.),2008 CarswellOnt 2295 (Ont. C.J.) & 38
2008 CarswellOnt 2525 (Ont. C.J.)

GETTING EVEN: PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS

Hercus v. Hercus, 2001 O.J. No. 534 (Templeton, J.) 40

Kainz v. Potter, 2006 CanLII 20532 (ON SC) (Linhares de Sousa, J.) 42

Reilly v. Zacharuk, 2017 ONSC 7216 (Lemay, J.) 45
4

Jirova v. Benincasa, 2018 ONSC 534 (Audet, J.) 48

McClintock v. Karam, 2015 ONSC 1024 (Gray, J.) 52

B. (S.G.) v. L. (S.J.), 2009 CarswellOnt 647 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Herman, J.) 55

Surowiec v. Surowiec, 2016 ONSC 1095 (Gunsolus, J.) 59

Lockman v. Rancourt, 2017 ONSC 2274 (Engelking, J.) 61

Cawthorpe v. Cawthorpe, 2010 ONSC 1389 (Gilmore, J.) 65

Kucyi v. Kucyi, 2006 CarswellOnt 9402 (Backhouse, J.) 67

E.E. v. F.F. and G.G., (December 2008) (Czutrin J.) (Ont. S.C.J.) [unrep.] 68

GETTING OUT OF COURT: STAY CASES

Thomson v. Thomson, 2012 ONCJ 182 (Zisman, J.) 71

McAllister v. Gallant, 2012 ONCJ 565 (Sherr, J.) 75

Marchese v. Marchese, 2007 ONCA 34 (MacPherson, Sharpe & Juriansz, JJ.A.) 78

Kaplan v. Kaplan, 2015 ONSC 1277 (McDermot, J.) 80

E.E. v. F.F. and G.G., 2007 CarswellOnt 6462 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Spence, J.) 84

Janeliunas v. Janeliunas, 2010 CarswellOnt 10840 (Ont. C.J.) (Zuker, J.) 86

McClintock v. Karam, 2016 ONSC 6986 (Gibson, J.) 88

Puigbonet-Crawford v. Crawford, 2006 CanLII 38881 (ON SC) (Howden, J.) 90

Owers v. Owers, 2009 ONCA 296 (Gillese, Feldman & Rouleau, JJ.A.) 92
5

GETTING A GRIP: ARBITRATOR POWERS Page

Woronowicz v. Conti, 2015 ONSC 5247 (Charney, J.) 94

Flowers v. Eickmeier, 2017 ONSC 3376 (Di Luca, J.) 97

Reiss v. Garten, 2016 ONSC 1508 (Kiteley, J.) 101

Jung v. Jung, 2015 ONSC 5805 (Corbett, J.) 102

Lafontaine v. Maxwell, 2014 ONSC 700 (James, J.) 104

Haratsis v. Haratsis, 2007 CanLII 2652 (ON SC) (Thorburn, J.) 105

Seganfreddo v. Seganfreddo, 2010 CarswellOnt 9760 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Corrick) 107

Grosman v. Cookson, 2012 ONCA 551 (O’Connor & Ducharme, JJ.A.) 109

Troisi v. Gillen, 2013 ONCJ 677 (Murray, J.) 111

Blustein v. Blustein, 2011 ONSC 1888 (Sachs, Wilton-Siegel & Lauwers, JJ.) 113

GETTING ANOTHER SHOT: APPEALS

Murphy v. Murphy, 2013 ONSC 7015 (Perell, J.) 114

Murphy v. Murphy, 2015 ONCA 69 (MacFarland, Hourigan & Benotto, JJ.A.119

Rosenberg v. Minster, 2014 ONSC 845 (Perkins, J.) 120

Patton-Casse v. Casse, 2011 CarswellOnt 7090 (Ont. S.C.J.) & 125
2011 CarswellOnt 11047 (Ont. S.C.J.) (McDermot, J.)

Ojo v. Mason, 2013 ONSC 1240 (Kruzick, J.) 128

Myers v. Vickar, 2012 ONSC 5004 (CanLII) (Mesbur, J.) 130

Sterenberg v. Van Ryswyk, 2017 ONSC 5551 (Gray, J.) 133
6

Kroupis-Yanovski v. Yanovski, 2012 ONSC 5312 (CanLII) (Herman, J.) 135

Palmer v. Palmer, 2010 ONSC 1565 (Ferguson, J.) 138

Moran v. Cunningham, 2009 CarswellOnt 6323 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Jarvis, J.) 140

Moran v. Cunningham, 2009 CarswellOnt 3974 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Horkins, J.) 141

Moran v. Cunningham, 2009 CarswellOnt 8359 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Greer, J.) 143

B. (S.G.) v. L. (S.J.), 2009 CarswellOnt 2660 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Herman, J.) 147

Gray v. Brusby, 2008 CanLII 32816 (ON SC) (Greer, J.) 149

Baetens v. Arthurs, 2013 CarswellOnt 5112 (Ont. S.C. Div. Ct.) 151
(Matlow, Swinton & Whittaker, JJ.)

Jurewicz v. Jurewicz, 2015 ONSC 7563 (Emery, J.) 154

Ferreira v. Esteireiro, 2013 ONSC 4620 (Mesbur, J.) 157

Collie v. Collie, 2013 ONSC 7061 (Stevenson, J.) 159

Marchioni v. Marchioni, 2015 ONSC 6793 (Woolcombe, J.) 161

Reati v. Racz, 2016 ONSC 1967 (Mitrow, J.) 165

Desjardins v. Gillen, 2011 CarswellOnt 14103 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Abrams, J.) 167

Shoval v. Shoval, 2005 CarswellOnt 7453 (Ont. Div. Ct) (Then, J.) 169

Fogel v. Fogel, 2012 ONSC 423 (Klowak, J.) 170

Robinson v. Robinson, 2000 CarswellOnt 3264 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Panet, J.) 175

Costa v. Costa, 2008 CanLII 9609 (ON SC) (Czutrin, J.) 176

Martek v. Martek, 2009 CarswellOnt 1244 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Backhouse, J.) 178

Speciale v. Speciale, 2009 CanLII 20712 (ON SC) (Eberhard, J.) 179
7

Nelson v. Nelson, 2015 ONSC 3711 (Coroza, J.) 181

Kucyi v. Kucyi, 2005 CanLII 48539 (ONSC DC) (Pardu, Epstein & Lax, JJ.) 182

Kucyi v. Kucyi, 2007 ONCA 758 (Weiler, MacPherson & Rouleau, JJ.A.) 184

S.(A.) v. G.(J.), 2008 CanLII 63190 (ON SC) (Horkins, J.) 185

GETTING COURT APPROVAL: ENFORCEMENT CASES

Lougheed v. Ponomareva, 2013 ONSC 4347 (Gray, J.) 187

Seed v. Seed, 2008 CanLII 34366 (ON SC) (Gray, J.) 189

Thibodeau v. Thibodeau, 2011 ONCA 110 (CanLII) 191
(Sharpe, Blair & Rouleau, JJ.A.)

Ferreira v. Esteireiro, 2013 CarswellOnt 12251 (Ont. S.C.J.) (Sachs, J.) 196

DeCraemer v. DeCraemer, 2012 ONSC 1182 (Bielby, J.) 198

Duguay v. Thompson-Duguay, 2000 CanLII 22515 (ON SC) (Perkins, J.) 200

Acimovic v. Acimovic, 2006 CanLII 34334 (ON SC) (Fragomeni, J.) 202
8

Constituting the Arbitration: MICHELON v. RYDER

Released: May 2016

Court: Ontario Court of Justice

Judge: Kurz, J.

Cite: 2016 ONCJ 327

Lawyers: Steven Benmor for wife, Mr. Ryder self-represented.

Mediator/
Arbitrator: None

Facts: Parties settling case and submitting terms to judge for Order. One of
the terms compels them to appoint a parenting coordinator and have
him/her resolve certain enumerated issues as a secondary arbitration.

Issue: Should these terms be included in the Order?

Decision: No. Although both parties consent to the terms regarding the PC, a
court cannot delegate decision-making powers to a third party. The
power of the court to determine any incident of custody is not the same
as the right to delegate that decision-making power. (para 18)

A court cannot order parties to sign an arbitration agreement. It must
be done voluntarily. (para 21)

Quote: “In considering all of the above, it is clear that the Ontario statutory
framework for the use of arbitration to settle family law disputes
requires consent, as expressed in an arbitration agreement, in order to
commence the process. That agreement can call for further reference
to secondary arbitration to settle disputes that may arise from time to
time down the road. However, absent statutory change, the gateway to
9

the arbitration process can only be traversed voluntarily. Court orders,
even those on consent, do not contain a shortcut across the arbitration
gateway.

That being said, nothing prevents the parties to this proceeding from
signing the arbitration agreement contemplated in par. 44 of the draft
order. They have already agreed to do so. It just means that the court
cannot order them to do so.” (paras 20-21)

Comment: This decision is consistent with Horowitz v. Nightingale (p. 10) and
inconsistent with Lopatowski (p. 30) where Gray, J. dealt with an
almost identical issue. In Lopatowski, Gray J. said he disagreed with
this decision but, unfortunately, did not offer reasons why.

Comment: Case makes it clear there is no getting around the statutory formalities
required to give effect to an arbitrator’s award: a signed arbitration
agreement which must contain independent legal advice certificate for
first-time arbitrations, provisions on rights of appeal and domestic
screening requirements.
10

Constituting the Arbitration: HOROWITZ v. NIGHTINGALE

Released: April 2017

Court: Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Judge: Nelson, J.

Cite: 2017 ONSC 2168

Lawyers: Dani Frodis and Lorne Wolfson

Mediator/Arbitrator: Stephen Grant

Facts: Parties signed Minutes agreeing to arbitrate with Mr. Grant. Wife later
changed her mind and refused to sign med-arb agreement. When wife
tried to move forward with case in court, Husband moved for stay on
grounds the parties were bound by the med-arb process.

Issue: Should husband’s motion for stay be granted?

Decision: No. Motion to stay dismissed. Minutes of Settlement agreeing to
arbitrate is not the same as an arbitration agreement which requires
certain items or “formalities”, including rights of appeal, domestic
violence screening, and, in the case of a first arbitration, independent
legal advice, without which no arbitrator’s award can be enforceable in
law.

Quote: “From a policy point of view, I am mindful of how important it is in
family law to hold parties to their agreement. It is also important to
have options such as arbitration and mediation/arbitration for parties
who wish to opt out of the litigation process. Getting parties to agree
on both process and substantive issues is, after all, an important
function of case management. Had there been no formal requirements
necessary, and had Justice McGee and the parties themselves not