By David G. Fleet The subtle intricacies of assessment and taxation legislation in Ontario often lead to parties and decision-makers confusing themselves. Two recent cases provide examples. Ashforth v. MPAC Ashforth v. Municipal Property Assessment Corp., Region No. 17, 2011 CarswellOnt 2136 (ARB) rendered March 23, 2011 concerns the jurisdiction of the Assessment Review Board [...] Read more »

In the recent case of Kitchener Frame Limited, the Assessment Review Board (“Board”) again considered the question of what constitutes a “use” with respect to a vacant unit application under s.364 of the Municipal Act, 2001 (“Act”). The property located at 1011 Homer Watson Boulevard in Kitchener (“Subject Property”) was constructed as a sport utility [...] Read more »

Karakatsanis and Moldaver are set to be named as the next Ontario Appointees to the top court. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/10/17/pol-scoc-appointments.html Read more »

Recently, the Assessment Review Board began a hearing in the above referenced matter with a determination that there was an appearance of bias among all of the parties major expert witnesses. The Board determined that the experts involved would not be qualified as experts. The decision was made prior to the hearing of any evidence [...] Read more »