Business owners in Alberta who faced economic losses due to pandemic closures are now certified to proceed as a class action and can sue the provincial government collectively for damages. Any lawsuits to follow will also affect the plaintiffs themselves, as the subsequent lawsuits will be paid for by the Alberta government — funded by the taxpayer.
Justice Feasby, who oversaw the class certification hearing on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, initially hoped to have a decision ready for Dec. 1, considering the many documents to sort through. He wasn’t even certain he’d be able to meet that deadline.
And yet, Feasby issued the decision a month early, officially certifying the class action.
The suit was initially filed by Rath & Company in Feb. 2024.
The lawsuit is spearheaded by two primary plaintiffs: Rebecca Ingram, a gym owner, and Christopher Scott, owner of the Whistle Stop Café. Both allege that their businesses suffered substantial losses due to public health orders issued by Alberta’s former Chief Medical Officer of Health, Deena Hinshaw, during the pandemic, before being removed from her role by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in 2022.
Co-counsel on the case, Eva Chipiuk, shared the certification in a post to X.
The certification does not imply in any way that the defendants are guilty; it only allows the plaintiffs to proceed as a class.
The court certified that class as “All individuals who owned, in whole or in part, a business or businesses in Alberta that was subject to full or partial closure, or operational restrictions, mandated by the CMOH Orders between March 17, 2020, and the date of certification. For clarity, ‘owned’ does not include ownership as a shareholder in a corporation or as a member of a cooperative.”
Rath and Company’s class action intake form is still available for affected business owners to join.
The class action follows the Ingram decision, where the Calgary Court of King’s Bench declared several of Alberta’s public health orders to have been unlawfully enacted, setting a precedent for potential financial redress for impacted businesses.
“This is a huge day for Alberta businesses that were illegally harmed by Jason Kenney and Deena Hinshaw,” said lead counsel Jeff Rath. “The court found that the action can proceed against the government of Alberta on a number of grounds including misfeasance in public office allowing the plaintiffs to seek punitive damages against the Albertan government for wrongdoing.”
Once again, the class certification implies no guilt. However, Feasby did say that “the proposed representative plaintiffs plead essentially that Cabinet hid behind the CMOH thereby avoiding democratic accountability. That, in my view, is a collateral purpose that is plausibly bad faith.”
However, it does allow business owners to proceed with eight common issues, such as exploring whether they should be awarded punitive damages and, if so, how much.
Other issues explore whether Alberta acted in bad faith or breached the Alberta Bill of Rights.
Chipiuk told True North that governments across Canada are being reminded that they cannot act without consequence.
“Although not the final step, it is a crucial starting point to address some of the injustices that have taken place,” she said.