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be remedied and ruled that the Board ’ s decision to deem the animal a nuisance was reasonable and the Board was entitled to order the dog to be removed.
down, hear each other, and realize that the only win - win is peace. ” He also questioned why cases such as this one kept happening and why
condominium corporations keep coming to court with “ she said/ she said ” neighbour disputes instead of going to mediation and arbitration as intended by the Act and which should be a quicker, cheaper and more conciliatory way to resolve these
In its decision, however, the CAT stated that it was unfortunate that the Corporation had not first attempted to better understand the situation and to explore solutions other than the
...the only win - win is peace.
removal of the dog. The CAT also concluded that the Corporation should have first considered whether there may have been other ways to resolve the issue with Ms. Paikin without escalating the matter to the point of having the dog removed. For this reason, prior to removing the dog, the CAT ordered the corporation to first consider communicating with Ms. Paikin to try to better understand her situation, clarify some of the related issues and avoid escalation of conflict. The second case that speaks to the necessity of all parties to be reasonable is Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 1171 v. Rebeiro, 2022 ONSC 503 (CanLII). The heart of this matter was a neighbours ’ dispute which involved competing allegations between two residents and each was alleged to abuse the other with name calling, banging on a common wall, and other forms of harassment. The condominium corporation sided with one of the residents and ordered the other out or at least ordered them to comply with the condominium ’ s rules. After being presented with evidence which was, in Justice Myers ’ opinion, lacking credibility, he candidly held that the matter should have never happened and stayed it pending mediation and arbitration. In doing so, he quoted Justice Dunphy who discussed condominium neighbours ’ disputes in TSCC 2204 v. Panagiotou, 2021 ONSC 8199 (CanLII):
kinds of disputes. Going forward, regardless of the expansion of the CAT and the Court ’ s jurisdiction to continue hearing matters involving dangerous activities, all parties involved in condominium disputes need to ensure steps are being taken by all sides to try and resolve the dispute in as reasonable a manner as possible. This may mean sitting the parties down in an informal setting with a neutral third party, retaining a mediator or attempting more creative solutions that assist in compelling the parties to pause and work towards a resolution. As such matters are often complex and involve competing evidence and issues surrounding credibility, the assistance of legal counsel specializing in condominium disputes may still be helpful. Our office is always open to working with condominium communities to help navigate such difficult and often emotionally charged issues and find the most efficient and appropriate way forward for all involved. ■
This fiasco has gone on long enough. The root of the problem is the ill - advised decision to escalate this dispute to an “ on the meter ” legal level with an ever - increasing conveyer belt of demands for legal fees instead of deescalating it through mediation as the Legislature plainly intended to occur.
Justice Myers further held that the matter was simple to fix. Rather than being found in an expensive, drawn - out court proceeding, “ the fix is in making the parties sit
CCI Review 2021/2022 —March 2022 - 13
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