Divisional Court Upholds Award Against Ontario Government In Test Case Brought By Small, Rural School Bus Operators
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On April 19, 2016, in a test case about the future of student transportation procurement in Ontario, the Divisional Court unanimously upheld the award of a motions judge granting a group of small, rural school bus operators $150,000.00 in costs on a motion to add the Ontario Government as a party and rejecting the Government's request to dismiss the operators' claims as having no basis in law. The test case alleges that the Government directed school boards to use an unfair template RFP process for the procurement of student transportation contracts, which has caused small, rural operators to lose their livelihoods. A previous request by the Government to appeal the merits of the motion judge's decision was rejected. The operators were represented by Jonathan Lisus, Daniel Schwartz and Matthew Law. They are prosecuting a number of similar cases for small, rural school bus operators across the Province.
The Divisional Court’s decision can be found here. http://canlii.ca/t/gphqw The motion judge’s decision on the merits can be found here. http://canlii.ca/t/g867h The motion judge’s costs decision can be found here. http://canlii.ca/t/gfr6z The decision denying the Government leave to appeal the merits of the motion judge’s decision can be found here. http://canlii.ca/t/g8vwc
Decisions in similar cases, including where injunctions were granted and/or significant costs awards were made, can be found here. http://canlii.ca/t/fxfbf; http://canlii.ca/t/g1mn7; http://canlii.ca/t/fv35j