Alberta's top court overturns certification for class-action lawsuit over COVID restrictions
Alberta’s top court has overturned the certification of a class-action lawsuit filed by a group of business owners who were seeking compensation for losses suffered due to pandemic-related public health restrictions and closures.
Alberta business owners hurt by pandemic restrictions sued province for losses
Meghan Grant · CBC News
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Alberta’s top court has overturned the certification of a class-action lawsuit filed by a group of business owners who were seeking compensation for losses suffered due to pandemic-related public health restrictions and closures.
In a 17-page decision issued Friday, the panel of three Alberta Court of Appeal judges ruled that the lawsuit is “bound to fail.”
The proposed class action — headed by gym owner Rebecca Ingram and Whistle Stop Cafe owner Christopher Scott as representative plaintiffs — was certified in 2024 by Court of King’s Bench Justice Colin Feasby.
The lawsuit, filed by lawyer Jeffrey Rath, followed the superior court’s 2023 “Ingram” decision in which Justice Barbara Romaine found that Alberta’s health orders were made outside the scope of the province's Public Health Act, which requires the chief medical officer of health (CMOH) to make public health orders.
'Fail to disclose causation'
Romaine found that while the CMOH made recommendations and ultimately implemented restrictions, it was cabinet and committees that had the final decision making power. The orders were otherwise found to be constitutional.
Rath's lawsuit alleged that because the orders were found to be unlawful, Alberta is liable for the losses suffered by class members due to closures and restrictions imposed on businesses.
Alberta appealed the certification, and on Friday, the appeal panel sided with the government, finding that the alleged negligent conduct relates to the procedure, not the substance of the CMOH orders.
“If the identical CMOH Orders had been issued by the Chief Medical Officer … there would be no negligent act and no claim,” wrote the panel.
“The class action pleadings fail to disclose causation — that the alleged procedural defect caused injury to the class members … as a result of this fundamental flaw in the proposed claim, it is plain and obvious that it is bound to fail.”
During the pandemic, Scott faced several charges, accused of breaching the Public Health Act when his restaurant, the Whistle Stop Cafe in Mirror, Alta., remained open despite restrictions banning large gatherings and in-person dining in January 2021.
Scott's charges were stayed after Romaine's decision was released.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Meghan Grant is a justice affairs reporter. She has been covering courts, crime and stories of police accountability in southern Alberta for more than 15 years. Send Meghan a story tip at meghan.grant@cbc.ca.
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