This was a Costs ruling following the dismissal of an appeal of an arbitration award. The Respondents were successful and sought Costs under Rules 10.29, 10.31, and 10.33.

The Court confirmed that pursuant to Rule 10.29(1), a successful party is presumptively entitled to costs payable forthwith, subject to the Court’s discretion under Rule 10.31. Rule 10.31 allows the Court to order costs after considering the factors in Rule 10.33, including success, importance, complexity, conduct, and proportionality. However, the Court noted there is no presumptive level of indemnification, and it may assess costs with or without reference to Schedule C, using multipliers, proportions or fractions.

Applying those Rules, the Court found that Schedule C, Column 5, with Items 18–21, was appropriate given the nature of the appeal and the potential monetary implications, even though the Applicants had argued for Column 1. The Court declined to apply a multiplier, finding that the matter was not sufficiently complex to justify one.

Pursuant to Rule 10.31, and consistent with the usual presumption of joint and several liability, the Court awarded Costs jointly and severally against three of the four Applicants, excluding 1010805 Alberta Ltd due to its limited role.