Date: 2007-11-14 Docket: SH 265555. Suzanne M. Hood J. | Link

Dispute about service fees and rates. Plaintiff seeks production of "documentation related to the service fees and rates (including but not limited to administrative fees and mileage rates) that the Defendant has paid to other service providers who provide supervised apartments and group homes for persons with mental health and disabilities in Nova Scotia, for the period of 1998 to present." Question of relevance and burden to produce. The plaintiff says that this documentation is necessary in order for it to establish its loss and says therefore that it is clearly relevant. (para 20) Based upon the information before me, I conclude that the documentation with a semblance of relevance does not include documentation outside the so- called Central Region. (para 25) "It is perfectly clear that these documents, although stored in a disorganized fashion, are within the control of the defendant. I conclude that it is not unduly burdensome in all the circumstances of this case for the defendant to produce the documentation which I have concluded to be relevant. The plaintiff has no other way to obtain documentation which is critical to its case and should not be left without the opportunity to proceed with its lawsuit because of the fashion in which the defendant keeps its records. Nor do I conclude that this is one of those exceptional cases where the party requesting the documentation should pay for its production. If the records were kept in a different fashion, it would not be difficult to produce them. It is not the fault of the plaintiff that this is not the case." (para 44) "The defendant may be able to obtain it more easily from some of the service providers who may have kept their records, which would be smaller in number, in a more accessible fashion than those of the defendant. The possibility that this could occur does not affect the order which will flow from my decision, but it is an option that the defendant may wish to explore." (para 49) paras 29-33 outline burden.