2013 June 10

Asselin v McDougall, 2013 ONSC 3216

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice rejected the plaintiff’s submissions, following a dismissal of its application for an interlocutory injunction, that the defendants should not be awarded costs for the motion on the theory they would thereby be “rewarded for posting and allowing others to post on their YouTube channel, comments of a … vile nature.” The Court rejected the defence request for “full indemnity” costs (awarding only the lesser “substantial indemnity” costs), stating that it had no reason to doubt the plaintiff was “motivated only by a desire to permanently remove from the Internet offending comments made about him on the Defendant’s YouTube channel.” The defence unsuccessfully argued that the main purpose of the plaintiff’s injunction application was to force the defendants to incur unnecessary costs thereby bringing financial pressure on the defendants. The Court held there was no evidence to support that defence allegation