Federal Court Of Appeal Simplifies The Standard Of Review Of Prothonotary Decisions

A rare five-judge panel of the Federal Court of Appeal has abandoned the so-called Aqua-Gem standard of review of the discretionary decisions of prothonotaries, in favour of the standard established by the Supreme Court of Canada in Housen v Nikolaisen, 2002 SCC 33 (Housen). In Hospira Healthcare Corporation v The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, 2016 FCA 215 (Hospira), the Court of Appeal also clarified that the Housen standard applies in reviewing the discretionary decisions of motions...