In the recent case of Mostafa Altalibi Professional Corporation v Lorne S. Kamelchuk Professional Corporation, 2020 ABQB 673, Master Farrington considered the issue as to whether video questioning could be ordered in a lawsuit or whether the lawsuit had to be delayed until the covid epidemic subsided.
In ordering the questioning to go ahead, the court said at paragraph 14:
In many respects, the real question raised by the arguments of the respondent is whether the litigation generally should be postponed during the pandemic. It was argued that there will be ample time for questioning before trial when the pandemic subsides. In my view, the Court should not postpone questioning indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic only to create significant backlogs in all of the various ongoing matters presently before the Court. There are reasonable options available and a reasonable option at this time is remote video questioning. Indeed, if all questioning could simply be postponed routinely as a result of the pandemic it would be difficult to identify those cases where the request was based on safety concerns, and those cases where the request is directed toward general delay of the litigation.
In our view this is the correct approach. If you are involved in litigation that you would like to push ahead, please feel free to contact us.
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. No solicitor client relationship is formed through this article.
The reader is encouraged to retain counsel for advice in these matters.
