Posting Interim Orders in Unauthorized Practice Cases

In Ostiguy v. Collège des médecins du Québec, 2020 QCCA 1554 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/jbq55, an orthotist had been convicted of practising medicine numerous times and fined, cumulatively, over $50,000. The medical regulator brought an application to restrain him from continuing to practise medicine. The regulator sought and obtained an interim injunction. It was that interim order that was under appeal. A somewhat unique aspect of this order was that the individual was required to post a copy of the order, at eye level and without other information, on the door to his practice.

The Court of Appeal upheld the order finding that there was an adequate basis to support the concern that the individual was not ceasing his illegal activities. The requirement to post the order on the clinic door ensured publication of the injunction, which was essential to the protection of the public. The Court also held that it was not necessary to provide notice to the individual’s employer before making the order. The Court also held that a quickly corrected mistake by counsel for the regulator implicating other individuals in the illegal conduct did not preclude the making of the order. The discretion to refuse an injunction when a party does not come with “clean hands” relates more to improper conduct in the events rather than to an advocacy mistake.

Posting orders in public seems to be another instrument in the regulatory toolbox.

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