Stockwoods lawyers Phil Tunley and Tiffany O’Hearn Davies were successful in obtaining leave to appeal to the Divisional Court from decisions of the Ontario Municipal Board concerning its ability to award costs against a non-party. In a detailed endorsement, Patillo J. held that there is good reason to doubt the correctness of the decisions in two respects: first, whether the Board had jurisdiction under any applicable statute to award costs personally against the appellant as a non-party; and second, even if the Board had such jurisdiction, whether it erred in principle in making such award on the facts before it. The Court also briefly confirmed the requirement that a party exhaust any remedies available from the Board itself, including a request for review under s. 43 of the Ontario Municipal Board Act, before seeking judicial review or leave to appeal, and that an extension of time for the motion for leave will normally be granted where the delay arises as a result of meeting that requirement.
