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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 13, 2010
OTTAWA – The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has launched a new task force to address the difficult challenge of overlapping, multijurisdictional class actions which not only impede access to justice but also create confusion for the public.
“The public, plaintiffs and defendants, the judiciary and the litigation bar are becoming increasingly frustrated by jurisdictional overlap caused by provincial class actions claiming to represent national classes,” says CBA President Kevin Carroll, Q.C., of Barrie, Ontario. “Rules for the proper management of such cases are necessary.”
The chair of the newly-created National Class Actions Task Force is Sylvie Rodrigue, of Ogilvy Renault LLP. “The current situation not only creates uncertainty, but is also unnecessarily expensive,” says Ms. Rodrigue. “It can and should be improved.”
The CBA has already established an online Class Actions Database of more than 200 class actions. “While the database offers a vehicle to communicate the existence of multijurisdictional class actions, it does not solve the problem of their overlap,” explains Ms. Rodrigue. The CBA database is a voluntary initiative and is not a comprehensive listing of all class action lawsuits currently underway in Canada.
The Task Force will focus on two possible solutions: a judicial protocol as an interim solution in order to ensure better coordination between the courts in different provinces, and to avoid duplication as well as inefficiencies; and the development of permanent, legislative amendments in each province that would be accepted by all stakeholders and be constitutionally sound.
“In order to achieve these goals, we propose a phased-in approach,” says Ms. Rodrigue. “The first phase involves broad consultations that we hope will lead to adoption of a judicial protocol applicable to each jurisdiction in Canada that has class action legislation.”
“The second phase involves legislative reform in each province with class action legislation to facilitate harmonized administration of national or multijurisdictional class actions.”
The work of the task force will begin this spring. The timeline for completion of the Phase 1 consultation and judicial protocol is August 2011. Phase 2 will follow, and includes a consultation with CBA members and other stakeholders, and then a final report.
The launch of the Task Force takes place on Feb. 13, 2010, at 11:00 a.m., as part of the CBA Mid-Winter Meeting of Council. Sessions are open to accredited media. Council meets at the Fairmont Château Laurier in the Adam Room on Feb. 13 and 14. Accreditation may be obtained by contacting Hannah Bernstein at 613-797-6322 from Feb. 12 to 14.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to support for the rule of law, and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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Members of the CBA National Class Actions Task Force
Chair: Sylvie Rodrigue, Ogilvy Renault LLP, Toronto and Montreal
Chief Justice Warren K. Winkler, Chief Justice of Ontario, Court of Appeal for Ontario, Toronto
Chief Justice Robert J. Bauman, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver
Chief Justice Robert D. Laing, Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon
Justice Louis Lacoursière, Cour supérieure du Québec, Montréal
Justice Jean-Paul Albert Ouellette, Cour du Banc de la Reine du Nouveau-Brunswick - Miramichi (NB)
Marie Audren, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Montréal
Kirk M. Baert, Koskie Minsky LLP, Toronto
Daniel Belleau, Belleau Lapointe S.A., Montréal
Andrew D. Borrell, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Ward K. Branch, Branch MacMaster, Vancouver
D. Brian Foster, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Calgary
Rodney L. Hayley, Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
André Lespérance, Lauzon Bélanger, Montréal
S. Gordon McKee, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Toronto
Simon V. Potter, McCarthy Tétrault S.E.N.C.R.L., s.r.l, Montréal
Harvey T. Strosberg, Q.C., Sutts, Strosberg LLP, Windsor (ON)
Raymond F. Wagner, Wagner & Associates, Halifax
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