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John Polyzogopoulos

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John has been the editor of Blaneys Appeals since the inception of the blog in the Summer of 2014. He is a partner at the firm with almost two decades of experience handling a wide variety of litigation matters. John assists clients with matters ranging from appeals, to injunctions, to corporate, breach of contract and other business litigation, to estates and matrimonial litigation, and to debtor-creditor and insolvency litigation. John also represents amateur sports organizations in contentious matters and advises them in matters of internal governance. John can be reached at 416-593-2953 or jpolyzogopoulos@blaney.com.

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Jump To: Table of Contents | Civil Decisions | Short Civil Decisions | Criminal Decisions

Good evening.

Following are the summaries for this week’s civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

In Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, 2019 ONCA 393, the court upheld the constitutionality of two policies enacted by the College.  Each of policies required physicians who objected to providing certain medical procedures and pharmaceuticals on the basis of religious beliefs or freedom of conscience (such as medical assistance in dying, abortion and reproductive health services) to provide the patient with an effective referral to other practitioners or clinics.  The Court upheld the Divisional Court’s finding that while the policies infringed the individual doctor’s religious freedom, the policies were reasonable limits that were demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society. The Court agreed with the Divisional Court and found that the policies’ objective to facilitate equitable access for vulnerable patients to health care services was sufficiently pressing and substantial to warrant overriding individual doctors’ religious freedom.  The Court found that the policies fell within a range of reasonable alternatives to address the religious objections of physicians.
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Jump To: Table of Contents | Civil Decisions | Short Civil Decisions | Criminal Decisions | Ontario Review Board

Good evening.

Here are this week’s summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

In Donovan v. Sherman Estate, the Court briefly reviewed the test for granting a sealing order. The Court observed that although the desire for privacy in this case was understandable, by itself, the desire for privacy without a public interest component is insufficient to justify the granting of a sealing order.

In Ruffolo v. David, the Court addressed the contempt power, stressing that contempt is an enforcement power of last resort and should be employed sparingly in order to preserve the judicial authority it is intended to protect. The Court additionally noted that appeals from contempt findings should typically only be made after the court of first instance has levied a sanction against the contemnor. In this case, though, the Court set aside the finding of contempt even before the court below had imposed a sanction.

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