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Civil Litigation Dicta - Summary Judgment - HRYNIAK - 'Genuine Issue Requiring a Trial' [RCP R20.04(2)]. Hryniak v. Mauldin
In Hryniak v. Mauldin (SCC, 2014) the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal, here where the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the case "was not an appropriate candidate for summary judgment", but that the matter had been properly resolved nonetheless.
Here the court considers the key summary judgment order-granting criteria of 'no genuine issue requiring a trial' [RCP R20.04(2)]:(1) When Is There No Genuine Issue Requiring a Trial?
[47] Summary judgment motions must be granted whenever there is no genuine issue requiring a trial (Rule 20.04(2)(a)). In outlining how to determine whether there is such an issue, I focus on the goals and principles that underlie whether to grant motions for summary judgment. Such an approach allows the application of the rule to evolve organically, lest categories of cases be taken as rules or preconditions which may hinder the system’s transformation by discouraging the use of summary judgment.
[48] The Court of Appeal did not explicitly focus upon when there is a genuine issue requiring a trial. However, in considering whether it is against the interest of justice to use the new fact-finding powers, the court suggested that summary judgment would most often be appropriate when cases were document driven, with few witnesses and limited contentious factual issues, or when the record could be supplemented by oral evidence on discrete points. These are helpful observations but, as the court itself recognized, should not be taken as delineating firm categories of cases where summary judgment is and is not appropriate. For example, while this case is complex, with a voluminous record, the Court of Appeal ultimately agreed that there was no genuine issue requiring a trial.
[49] There will be no genuine issue requiring a trial when the judge is able to reach a fair and just determination on the merits on a motion for summary judgment. This will be the case when the process (1) allows the judge to make the necessary findings of fact, (2) allows the judge to apply the law to the facts, and (3) is a proportionate, more expeditious and less expensive means to achieve a just result.
[50] These principles are interconnected and all speak to whether summary judgment will provide a fair and just adjudication. When a summary judgment motion allows the judge to find the necessary facts and resolve the dispute, proceeding to trial would generally not be proportionate, timely or cost effective. Similarly, a process that does not give a judge confidence in her conclusions can never be the proportionate way to resolve a dispute. It bears reiterating that the standard for fairness is not whether the procedure is as exhaustive as a trial, but whether it gives the judge confidence that she can find the necessary facts and apply the relevant legal principles so as to resolve the dispute.
[51] Often, concerns about credibility or clarification of the evidence can be addressed by calling oral evidence on the motion itself. However, there may be cases where, given the nature of the issues and the evidence required, the judge cannot make the necessary findings of fact, or apply the legal principles to reach a just and fair determination.
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