Welcome to my class actions blog. Comprehensive class actions legislation is now more than a decade old in most Canadian provinces, and the number of nationally and internationally prosecuted class actions is increasing. Since Wilson v Servier Canada Inc. (2000), 50 OR (3d) 219 (Ont. S.C.J.), national class actions have become what Brockenshire J. in Bondy v Toshiba of Canada Ltd. (2007), 39 CPC (6th) 339 (Ont. S.C.J.) described as “very much an unremarkable part of class proceedings litigation in Canada.”
With a common market, common judiciary, and an inter-provincially mobile population that purchases federally regulated goods with a common currency, I see one jurisdiction, not thirteen. There are no non-resident class members. On this basis, and with increasing interstate comity, Canadian courts can continue to certify national and global classes in the invigorating years to come. As stated by the learned Justice MacFarland in Webb v K-Mart Canada Ltd. (1999) 45 OR (3d) 638 (Div. Ct.), “Courts must adjust to the realities of modern commercialism which is not only national but international in many instances.”
Throughout my blog, you can review my professional and personal Biography. Under Philosophy, I set out the legal framework that informs my approach to class actions. The Case Notes are articles, case summaries, comments, and materials for practitioners and in-house counsel. The Tables are a helpful tool in comprehensively navigating parallel legislation and expanding jurisprudence.
Whether you are a client, clerk, colleague, in-house counsel, jurist, law student, or professor, I invite you to contact me, and if you are passionate about class actions, to visit my blog often for my insights into important trends and developments.
Sincerely yours,
Originally Dated: July 4, 2010
Revisited: October 21, 2013
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Case-Notes
