Is it appropriate to draw an adverse inference due to the failure of a defendant to provide affidavit evidence of first hand knowledge of contested facts?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Westcast Industries Inc. v. Gemini Fire Protection Solutions Inc., 2007 CanLII 14924 (ON SC):

Justice Kozak, in the case of Mosher v. Ontario, [1998] O.J. No. 1418, wrote at paragraph 13: “It is also appropriate in this case to draw an adverse inference due to the failure of the defendant to provide affidavit evidence of persons having first hand knowledge of contested facts.”

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