COVID-19 class-action application denied as abuse of process by B.C. judge

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has rejected a class-action lawsuit seeking damages for harm allegedly caused by provincial health orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Justice David Crerar ruled the suit, brought by the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy on behalf of all adults in B.C., was an abuse of process due to numerous flaws, including attempts to bypass standard judicial reviews and “vexatious argument” within its pleadings. The society argued that Dr. Bonnie Henry and the province overstepped their authority with orders based on shaky scientific and legal grounds, violating Charter rights.

Crerar’s ruling focused not on the merits of the claims themselves, but on the practicality of proceeding as a class action. He found the proposed claim failed to meet the requirements for certification, particularly regarding a representative plaintiff who could adequately represent the diverse interests of the class, which ranged from those frustrated by vaccine rollout speed to those opposed to vaccination altogether.

The judge suggested a more focused legal challenge to the health orders might be viable, but concluded that “the present claim is not the one.” The dismissed lawsuit, if successful, could have resulted in millions of individual trials and substantial costs for taxpayers.

(Source：CBC)