What is the scope of cross-examination on an application?

There is no dispute over the scope of proper cross-examination on an application, which is set out in the oft-cited decision of Ontario v. Rothmans Inc., 2011 ONSC 2504 at para. 143. The following points have particular significance on this motion: (a) proper scope of cross-examination depends on the nature of the application; (b) questions asked must be a fair question, and must further be relevant to the issues on the application, the matters raised in the affidavit by the deponent (even if those issues are irrelevant to the application), or the credibility and reliability of the deponent’s evidence; (c) the scope of cross-examination on credibility does not extend to impeaching the character of the deponent; and (d) undertakings to obtain information may be sought, and the court will compel an answer provided the information is readily available or is not unduly onerous to obtain.

In assessing relevance, a key factor I must consider is whether an answer to the question asked could be relied on by the application judge to determine an issue on the application: Sanctuary v. Toronto (City), 2020 ONSC 4708 at para. 19.