2015 QCCQ 6141, 2015 QCCQ 6141

Lis c. Montréal (Ville de) 2015 QCCQ 6141 JP 2262 COURT OF QUEBEC Small Claims Division CANADA PROVINCE OF QUEBEC DISTRICT OF MONTREAL CIVIL DIVISION No: 500-32-130147-111 DATE: June 16, 2015 ______________________________________________________________________ IN THE PRESENCE OF: THE HONOURABLE VINCENZO PIAZZA, J.C.Q. ______________________________________________________________________ ADELA CHOUAI LIS Plaintiff v. VILLE DE MONTRÉAL Defendant ______________________________________________________________________ JUDGMENT ______________________________________________________________________ [ 1 ] Mrs.

Chouai Lis claims $600.00 from Ville de Montréal (“ Montréal ”) for damages to her property which she says have been caused by a snowplough operated by Montréal at the end of April 2011. [ 2 ] Montréal says that the snow removal contract for this sector of the city came to its end in March. By the end of April, all the snow removal equipment was in storage. [ 3 ] Montréal also pleads that there were no snow accumulations at the end of April 2011 which would have warranted snow removal operations.

As a matter of fact, Montréal’s records indicate that there were no such operations. [ 4 ] In accordance with a reservation by this Court of its right to do so [1] , Montréal also invokes paragraph 585(2) of the Cities and Towns Act [2] , which reads as follows: In case of any claim for damages to property, movable or immovable, a similar notice shall also be given to the clerk of the municipality, within 15 days, failing which the municipality shall not be liable for any damages, any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding. [ 5 ] Mrs.

Chouai Lis explains that the reason why she only sent her notice in July is that when she went to complain about the damages, a few days after the incident at the end of April, someone told her that Montréal would fix the problem. [ 6 ] She is unable to give the name of this person and no one else is privy to this conversation. ANALYSIS [ 7 ] It was Mrs. Chouai Lis’ burden to establish that her version of the facts is predominant and outweighs that of Montréal [3] . Faced with two contradicting versions, the Tribunal cannot conclude that Mrs. Chouai Lis successfully discharged this burden.

The Tribunal finds that the testimony of Montréal’s representative is at least as credible as Mrs. Chouai Lis’. [ 8 ] Furthermore, the Tribunal is not satisfied with Mrs. Chouai Lis’ justification for only sending the mandatory 15-day notice to the city clerk in July, more than two months after the incident. FOR THE FOREGOING REASONS, THE TRIBUNAL: DISMISSES the application; CONDEMNS Adela Chouai Lis to pay the judicial costs of $105.00 to Ville de Montréal. __________________________________ VINCENZO PIAZZA, J.C.Q.

Date of hearing: June 15, 2015