In this recent case, the Divisional Court ruled that a litigant who was not pleased with the testimony of an opponent, given during a hearing, cannot sue their opponent in a separate proceeding for misrepresentation.
The court was dealing with a residential tenant who sued their landlord for alleged misrepresentations made before the Landlord and Tenant Board tribunal. The case was summarily dismissed by the Small Claims Court Judge, and this dismissal was upheld on appeal to the Divisional Court. The court explained that cases like this cannot succeed because of the doctrine of witness immunity, where everything said in the witness stand enjoys an absolute privilege that effectively protects the witness from all civil lawsuits where harm is alleged to have arisen from that testimony.
As stated by the Divisional Court, the opportunity to challenge the testimony of a witness is through an appeal of the case where the testimony was given, and not by way of a separate civil claim in defamation or misrepresentation.
The Divisional Court concluded that it was proper for the Small Claims Court Judge to summarily dismiss the tenant’s misrepresentation claim, and further concluded that the tenant’s appeal of that dismissal needed to be summarily dismissed on the grounds that it was frivolous, vexatious and without any basis in law.
Kurdina v. Toronto Community Housing Corporation, 2022 ONSC 6131
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscdc/doc/2022/2022onsc6131/2022onsc6131.html