Review and Approval of Minutes from December 6, 2007 Meeting:
Corrections were made to the minutes & the revised minutes were provided.

FSCO Matters:
FSCO is presently recruiting for a Director of the Dispute Resolution Group to replace David Draper who has moved to the Human Rights Tribunal. The Acting Director is Asfaw Seife.

Tom Golfetto has been appointed the Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Group. Tom has worked at FSCO for a number of years holding various positions including DRG Mediator, DRG Mediation Manager, and Director Pension Plans Branch.

There are no decisions outstanding on the consent issue.

Jetty & ING is under Appeal. It is anticipated that the appeal will be heard in late summer or early fall. Pending the outcome of the appeal on the issue of the requirement for the Insurer to sign the Settlement Disclosure Notice, any application for an arbitral order for dismissal on consent submitted after May 2, 2008 will be held in abeyance if the Settlement Disclosure Notice does not contain a handwritten signature of the Insurer's representative. If the file contains a Settlement Disclosure Notice without any name of Insurer representative (typewritten or signed by hand), the file will be returned to the insurer for signature. Files in which the Settlement Disclosure Notice contains the signature of the Insured will be processed, assuming that all other criteria are met.

"The Standard of Review is patently unreasonable" What does that mean?

Until recently, the test that was used to determine whether a decision should be overturned on appeal/judicial review was the standard of correctness and reasonableness. There were two legal variants of that standard of reasonableness - reasonableness simpliciter and patent unreasonableness. That changed, however, with the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9. In that decision, at para. 34, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that there should now only be two standards of review - correctness and reasonableness. (See http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/2008/june/2008ONCA0436.htm)
The reviewing court can rule that a decision is reasonable if there were sufficient evidence for the decision, and if both the process used to reach the decision and the decision itself were rationally connected to the facts and the applicable law. Even if the higher court could have reached a different conclusion in the same circumstances, it will show deference to the lower court's decision if the decision "falls within a range of possible, acceptable outcomes which are defensible in fact and law". Obviously, failure to meet this test would make a decision "patently unreasonable".

Statistics – John Lobo
John reviewed the mediation statistics. Applications for mediations are increasing (this was expected with the elimination of the DACs). There were 1,420 new applications in April 2008.

Staffing:
Janette Watt has accepted a new position as team lead with Rates & Classification effective June 30, 2008.
The DRG has proceeded with 2 backfill contract team leaders. Interviews are completed and they are in the process of finalizing the competition.
The DRG is also in the process of interviewing for two permanent & 2 contract mediators.

Arbitration & Appeal Statistics – Janine Macey
Janine reviewed the Arbitration & Appeal Statistics. Appeals are at an all time high.

Judicial Review:

DaRosa & Allstate – heard May 12, 2008
Ms G & Pilot – no new developments
Kanareitsev & TTC - no new developments
Michalski & Wawanesa - no new developments
Ramalingham & State Farm - no new developments
Watson & TTC – TTC has filed appellant factum

Insurers Request for Claim Numbers on the Appeal Forms:
Claim numbers are now being included on Arbitration & Appeal Forms.

Applications for Arbitration:
The group requested that when an Application for Arbitration is received that the location where the Arbitration is to take place be indicated; rather than, just a tick indicating outside the GTA.

Bill 198 5 Year Review:
FSCO has requested submissions by stake holders on changes to the Insurance Act. Submissions are to be forwarded to Willie Handler, Senior Manager, Finance, Automobile Insurance Policy, 5160 Yonge Street, Box 85, Toronto M2N 6L9 [416-590-7271] whandler@fsco.gov.on.ca no later than July 14, 2008.

Members’ List:
Mike De La Haye requested that everyone forward their current e-mail address to him at mdelahaye@wawanesa.com in order that the membership list has everyone’s updated information.

Upcoming – September 11, 2008 at 10 am at FSCO
December 4, 2008 at 10 is at FSCO
March 12, 2009 at 10 is at FSCO

Minutes by Mary Wright – RSA