Context:

• Parties Involved:
  • Plaintiff: GFL Environmental Inc., operating as "Matrec."
  • Defendants: 9172-7743 Québec Inc., 9243-9488 Québec Inc., and Halte St-Mathieu de Beloeil Inc.
• Issue: The defendants defaulted on paying for waste management services provided by the plaintiff under contracts. Judgments were issued against 9172-7743 and 9243-9488 for $71,755.27 and $35,965.41, respectively, with interest and legal fees. Halte faced a claim of $30,940.70 but contested.

Key Legal Proceedings:

1. Judgments by Default: Issued due to defendants’ failure to respond to claims properly.
2. Motion for Retrial: Defendants argued for the judgments to be retracted due to errors by their representative (Agata Libertella), attributed to health issues and procedural confusion.
3. Health Factors: Libertella presented evidence of chronic health issues that impaired her ability to manage the businesses and legal matters effectively.
4. Legal Principles:
   • Retracting default judgments requires meeting criteria: timely filing, reasonable grounds, and a prima facie defense.
   • Courts balance judgment stability with ensuring fairness when a party has substantive defenses but made procedural errors.

Court Decisions:

• The retraction motions for 9172-7743 and 9243-9488 were accepted, suspending the judgments and allowing the original claims to proceed.
• Halte St-Mathieu was excused for missing its deadlines and permitted to contest the claim fully.

Next Steps Ordered:

• All defendants to file responses within set timelines.
• The cases are to be managed jointly in a conference to ensure efficient resolution.
• Costs are waived for both parties at this stage.