2023 QCCQ 496, 2023 QCCQ 496

Potvin c. Orouji 2023 QCCQ 496 COURT OF QUEBEC Small Claims Division CANADA PROVINCE OF QUEBEC DISTRICT OF MONTREAL Civil Division No: 500-32-710370-190 DATE: February 9, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ BY THE HONOURABLE ELIANA MARENGO, J.C.Q. ______________________________________________________________________ JASON POTVIN Plaintiff v.

KOBRA OROUJI Defendant ______________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT ______________________________________________________________________ [ 1 ] Plaintiff is suing defendant, who is his neighbour, in damages, for allegedly having damaged his cedar hedge. [ 2 ] On July 28, 2019, defendant hired a third party to cut and prune her trees.

While this work was being carried out, damages were caused to plaintiff’s cedar hedge, which served as a privacy wall. [ 3 ] As stated by Philippe Léger of Paysagiste Vision Landscaping, a limb of defendant’s tree “crushed and opened up plaintiff’s hedge” along a 6-foot wide perimeter. [ 4 ] In order to repair this damage and make plaintiff whole, Paysagiste Vision Landscaping carried out the work described in invoice exhibit P-10.

Plaintiff paid the landscaper $1,322.22 for his services, as well as $45.99 as a consultation fee (invoices, exhibits P- 4 and P-5). [ 5 ] Defendant is liable for the above amounts, as well as plaintiff’s claim for the cost of registered mail in the amount of $24.73. [ 6 ] Defendant is also liable for a further sum of $100.00, representing punitive damages in accordance with the Tree Protection Act , [1] as defendant’s contractor encroached on plaintiff’s property without plaintiff’s consent. [ 7 ] Lastly, plaintiff is entitled to $50.00 for the trouble and inconvenience he suffered as a direct result of defendant’s fault. [ 8 ] However, the remainder of plaintiff’s claim with regards to “psychological services” and “time reimbursement” shall not be granted.

Plaintiff did not sufficiently prove that said alleged losses are a direct consequence of defendant’s fault (arts. 1607, 2803 and 2804 of the Civil Code of Quebec ). WHEREFORE THE COURT HEREBY: GRANTS plaintiff's application in part; ORDERS defendant to pay plaintiff the sum of $1,542.94, plus interest at the legal annual rate and the additional indemnity provided for in

section 1619 C.C.Q., from August 21, 2019, and legal costs in the amount of $103.00.

__________________________________ ELIANA MARENGO, J.C.Q. Dates of hearing: April 20, 2022 and January 31, 2023