It is sometimes suggested that it is better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission. That kind of locker-room advice was never good advice in a marriage and is not particularly useful in court either.
Four years ago, the plaintiff in this case asked to set aside the Registrar's order dismissing her action for delay in listing the action for trial and proposed as a condition for the indulgence sought that she would set the matter down for trial within 60 days ... The plaintiff was given a second chance to shepherd her claim to trial.
I would have expected a display of exemplary diligence on the part of the plaintiff and her lawyer … after this close call. A claim that I am asked to presume was important to her was very nearly lost. If it appeared that the deadline could not be met for unforeseen reasons, a timely application to vary could have been brought. Seeking permission is always better than presuming forgiveness. Unfortunately, the charms of Morpheus proved a more powerful draw than the plaintiff's intermittent resolve to pursue resolution of her claim.
The matter seems to have been returned for filing somewhere in the postal code of Sleepy Hollow shortly afterwards. There it promptly entered a deep sleep from which it was not disturbed in any material way for more than two full years. Even then it appears to have required a further year of delay before the plaintiff thought to look at the (ignored) order ... followed by a further delay of some nine months for the plaintiff and her lawyer to bestir themselves sufficiently to seek to actually address the problem.
Jadid v. Toronto Transit Commission
2016 CarswellOnt 2462
Ontario Superior Court of Justice