SHODUNKE v MERCREDI (ESTATE), 2026 ABCA 243

The Applicant sought permission to appeal to a panel of the Court of Appeal pursuant to Rule 14.5(1)(a). The Appeal was in respect of Feehan J.A.’s earlier decision that dismissed an Application for an extension of time to appeal a Chambers Judge’s decision on Judicial Review. Pursuant to Rule 14.5(2), the Applicant was required to seek permission from the same Judge that made the decision that was subject to the Appeal. As such, the Applicant sought permission from Feehan J.A. to appeal Justice Feehan’s decision.

The underlying dispute arose from a human rights complaint that the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which was dismissed as having no reasonable prospect of success. The complaint was also dismissed on appeal and was characterized as an abuse of process, frivolous, and vexatious. A Chambers Judge upheld those findings on Judicial Review. The Applicant did not file his Notice of Appeal within the prescribed time and later applied for an extension, which Feehan J.A. dismissed.

The Court held that there was no basis to grant permission to appeal the earlier extension decision. Feehan J.A. noted that the Applicant had failed to satisfy the established test for an extension of time to appeal. The Court had already found that the Applicant lacked a demonstrated intention to appeal within time, provided no adequate explanation for the delay, failed to support his alleged incapacity with cogent medical evidence, and advanced a proposed Appeal that lacked merit. The Application for permission did not identify any reviewable error in that analysis.

The Application was dismissed and Feehan J.A. concluded that the matter should not proceed to a panel of three Judges of the Court of Appeal.