What is the test for a multiple of costs award for serious party misconduct?

In addition to serious party misconduct, there are three other criteria outlined by Chief Justice Sinclair in McCarthy v. Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1, supra, which are to be taken into account in determining whether a multiple of costs should be awarded. These criteria are: “(1) the difficulty and complexity of the proceedings; (2) the public interest aroused; (3) the source of the funds from which costs may be payable”: p. 526. With regard to the first criteria, while the trial in this action was lengthy, nine times more lengthy than counsel had originally contemplated, I find that responsibility for the duration and complexity of the trial rests upon the shoulders of both parties. After some 15 years of a mutually defamatory mud-slinging feud, both the plaintiffs and the defendants chose to take ample opportunity during the course of the proceedings to hamper the other side. The costs of this uncooperative course of conduct is something, in my opinion, which both sides have to bear. Respecting the second criteria, I do not find that it is applicable in the present case. I also do not find that the third criteria ought to be taken into account in this case, as there is some evidence that there is income from which the defendants will be able to fund an award of costs.