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Page 6 March 13, 2017 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT u EDITORIAL OBITER By Gabrielle Giroday A tart ruling One hopes that Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi took a look at an Ontario Divisional Court ruling issued recently. The ruling in Gilbert's LLP v. David Dixon Inc., 2017 ONSC 1345 (CanLii) is a sharp rebuke regarding the current state of the province's assessment office. In the ruling, Justice Ian Nordheimer documents issues with the processes that lawyers must go through to get unpaid fees, and he also issues a reproach to the provincial government for failing to deal with the issue. "The situation in the Assessment Office has deteriorated . . . while the number of lawyers in the Province has increased, as has the amount of legal services being provided and also, presumably, the number of written fee agreements being entered into," he says. Law Times reports that backlogs in the assessment office at the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto have often led to waits of more than three years before lawyers seeing fees have their matters heard by an assessment officer. ". . . The assessment office cannot handle the demands that are currently made of it, and the problems that would be created if ev- ery written fee agreement for contentious work, had to be reviewed, through that system, before a lawyer could receive his/her fees," says the ruling. The ruling states lawyers can bring an action in court to collect unpaid fees, as long as there is no quantum dispute. "If there is a quantum dispute and you're within the time frame Budget aims to reverse political fortunes BY IAN HARVEY A s far as the Ontario Progres- sive Conservative caucus is concerned, it's forming the next provincial government come June 2018. Of course, the Ontario Liberals and the Ontario NDP will have something to say about it, but if the poll- ing numbers hold, and PC leader Patrick Brown doesn't jinx it as did his predeces- sors Tim Hudak and John Tory, it's not unlikely. Their first real shot at political re- demption has already been taken, roll- ing back residential hydro rates by 25 per cent. It's a classic short-term gain, in ex- change for long-term costs, that will add $25 billion in interest charges over the next 30 years plus another $2.5 billion over the next three years, which will be paid from general revenues. This brings us to the next big event on the Liberal government's calendar — the Budget Act, 2017. Minister of Finance Charles Sousa has already announced the 2016-17 deficit is down to $1.9 billion, though there was a little sleight of hand in moving $10.7 billion in public pension surpluses to the asset side of the ledger from the liability column. It will release $1.5 billion annually from the deficit and he's promised this budget will be balanced. The elephant in the room remains in the form of the $300-billon deficit that sucks up 11 per cent of revenues each year. The only saving grace is that interest rates aren't expected to rise soon, but the FAO has projected the debt will rise to $350 billion over the next four years de- spite claims of balanced budgets to come. So what's going to be the highlight of the 2017-18 budget, bearing in mind that the Ontario Liberals are between a rock and a hard place politically and fiscally? Fiscally, it's tight and getting tighter. Despite this, spending cuts will be mini- mal because this government has never been able to cut spending. The teach- ers' salaries are already guaranteed and locked in after those contracts have been signed ahead of time to buy peace in preparation for the June 2018 election. And that leaves tax and user fee increases. Normally, we'd brace for the inevitable rise in drivers' licence and plate renewal fees and other administrative burdens, but driver's licence and plate renewal fees were raised last year. Income tax hikes? On- tario's top margin combined with the federal government take is already around 54 per cent, so there's little wiggle room there. What then? A carbon tax is already in play, so that's out. An HST hike is always possible with a jump to eight per cent from Ontario's seven per-cent-slice of the 13-per-cent HST. But it's tricky because it risks further driving the underground economy despite the usual dire but impotent warnings about stepped-up enforcement. More road tolls are another target, perhaps a reason why Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne nipped Toronto May- or John Tory's plans in the bud to leave room for her own scheme? Could they privatize more assets de- spite the uproar over the Hydro One sale? An LCBO selloff is a perennially debated issue, but with marijuana about to be de- criminalized and likely sold through the LCBO, the timing isn't good. The Health Care Premium could also rise. It's currently zero for those making below $20,000 and $900 for those earn- ing $20,600 a year. There is some leeway there, especially on the high-income earner side. Mark that as a big possibility with the word "fair for all" being repeated liberally. The PC caucus might want to be care- ful what they wish for. If the Liberals go the populist route with this budget, rais- ing spending and skirting issues such as the debt, they will leave a fiscal time bomb for the next government. The Liberals have already committed billions to projects and if they don't sur- vive the polls — and the current betting is they won't — the next government will inherit a disaster much like the NDP under Bob Rae did in 1990 when he took over from the Liberals under David Peterson and found the treasury all but empty. As such, the burden of making those necessary but hard and unpopular choices will fall to the next government. LT uIan Harvey has been a journalist for more than 40 years writing about a diverse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His email address is ianharvey@rogers.com. for proceeding with an assessment, then you're stuck with that, but if there is no quantum dispute, it seemed to be quite silly to go through this lengthy, protracted assessment process, which, of course, wasn't intended to be that but became that," says Matthew Diskin, a partner with Gilbert's LLP. Silly, indeed. Members of the profession will be pleased to hear of a push for progress. LT ©2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reli- ance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 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Karen Lorimer Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Brown Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabrielle Giroday Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex Robinson Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Cancilla CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leah Craven Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phyllis Barone Production Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . .Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist . . . Derek Welford Queen's Park Ian Harvey

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