Remember that dumpster fire of a case that Action4Canada filed in August of 2021? Remember how it was struck — not on the merits — but because it was so poorly written? Bad beyond argument?
Heck, even the Law Society of British Columbia piled on.
While Justice Ross did allow for a rewrite, the decision was appealed instead.
This Appeal was particularly frivolous considering the content that was being challenged. Specifically, most of it centered around Paragraph 52, outlining many of the areas that there was no jurisdiction to bring to Civil Court.
[52] The defendants submit that the NOCC pleads to a number of claims that are improper in a civil action. In part, the defendants point to the following elements of the NOCC as inappropriate:
a) alleging criminal conduct;
b) seeking a declaration that the preponderance of the scientific community is of the view that masks are ineffective in preventing transmission;
c) seeking a declaration that the motive and execution of the COVID-19 prevention measures by the World Health Organization are not related to a bona fide “pandemic”;
d) seeking a declaration that administering medical treatment without informed consent constitutes experimental medical treatment which is contrary to the Nuremberg Code, the Helsinki Declaration and is a crime against humanity under the Criminal Code of Canada;
e) seeking a declaration that the unjustified, irrational, and arbitrary decisions of which businesses would remain open, and which would close, as being “essential”, or not, was designed and implemented to favour mega-corporations and to de facto put most small businesses out of business; and
f) seeking a declaration that the measures of masking, social distancing, PCR testing, and lockdowns are not scientifically based, and are based on a false and fraudulent use of the PCR test.
[53] I agree with the defendants that these are improper claims.
The B.C. Court of Appeals isn’t going to overturn this. Full stop.
As for the request to revisit the costs issue, it needs to be pointed out that costs are almost entirely discretionary. Given that Justice Ross (correctly) ruled the Notice of Civil Claim wasn’t drafted properly, no one will fault him for such a finding anyway.
Unsurprisingly, there were more requests for donations.
And what a time to be alive. We are in the age where Court Services Online (C.S.O.) can be accessed by anyone. Any member of the public can search a case online, and see what exactly is going on. Yes, B.C. does paywall this content, but it’s not expensive.
As it turns out, no Appeal has yet been scheduled to be heard. This is a serious problem, as British Columbia, like most jurisdictions, don’t want files sitting dormant for months or years. The Action4Canada appeal has been classified as “inactive”, due to a failure to schedule the hearing.
Back at the beginning of 2023, there was a consent order for Translink to delay sending its Factum (arguments). However, it has since been filed.
It also appears that Mark Witten has been replaced as counsel for the B.C. Defendants for some reason.
The B.C. Court of Appeal Rules, and the Act outline the issue A4C is going to have:
[Division 3, Rule 50]
Managing inactive appeal list
50 (1)The registrar must place an appeal on the inactive appeal list if a notice of hearing of appeal is not filed in accordance with these rules by the date that is:
.
(a) one year after the notice of appeal is filed for the appeal, or
(b) 60 days after the appeal is ready for hearing.
[Division 4, Rule 51]
Appeals that are dismissed as abandoned
51(1) For the purposes of section 23 [appeals or applications for leave to appeal dismissed as abandoned] of the Act, an appeal or application for leave to appeal is dismissed as abandoned if it remains on the inactive appeal list for 180 days.
(2) Unless a justice orders otherwise, an appeal that is dismissed as abandoned under subrule (1) may not be reinstated.
[Court of Appeal Act]
Appeals or applications for leave to appeal dismissed as abandoned
23(1) An appeal or application for leave to appeal is dismissed as abandoned if it remains inactive under the circumstances and to the extent set out in the rules.
.
(2) An appeal or application for leave to appeal that has been dismissed as abandoned under subsection (1) may be reinstated in accordance with the rules.
Under Rule 50, an Appeal must be placed on the “inactive” list if more than 1 calendar year has elapsed since the Notice of Appeal was filed. Under Rule 51, if it remains on that list for 6 months, it will be dismissed for being abandoned. That’s consistent with Rule 23 of the Court of Appeal Act
Interestingly, the Appellants — people launching the Appeal — can’t just fill out a form if the case gets dismissed. Instead, a Judge must approve it.
There have been allegations made that the Respondents have been deliberately delaying getting a hearing booked. This seems very unlikely, for the reasons outlined previously. The Appeal doesn’t address the elephant in the room — that the Claim wasn’t written properly — so there’s no real prospect of the decision getting overruled.
Huang v. Li, 2022 BCCA 450 outlined the test for reinstating Appeals at Paragraph 10:
(a) the length of the delay and, in particular, whether the delay has been inordinate;
(b) the reason for the delay and, in particular, whether the delay is excusable;
(c) whether the respondent has suffered prejudice as a result of the delay; and
(d) the extent of the merits of the appeal.
Ground (d) is particularly fatal. There are no merits to the Appeal. None whatsoever. Instead of rewriting an incoherent Notice of Claim, an Appeal was filed to challenge jurisdiction on a number of issues Civil Courts can’t determine. It’s clearly and obviously baseless.
Supposedly, Action4Canada has a new Notice of Civil Claim ready to go. If this is actually true, then it boggles the mind why they’re wasting time and money messing around with this Appeal.
Questions need to be asked about this.
Receipts attached below (as usual).
UPDATE TO ARTICLE: This Notice of Hearing was filed October 19, 2023. It seems that people are taking note about what gets published in this case.
ACTION4CANADA APPEAL DOCUMENTS:
(1) A4C Notice Of Appeal September 28 2022
(2) A4C Appeal – Notice Of Appearance – VIHA
(3) A4C Appeal – Notice Of Appearance – BC Defendants
(4) A4C Appeal – Notice Of Appearance – Attorney General of Canada
(5) A4C Appeal – Notice Of Appearance – Peter Kwok, Translink
(6) A4C Appeal – Notice Of Appearance – BC Ferries, Brittney Sylvester
(7) A4C Appeal – Appeal Book – Appellant
(8) A4C Appeal – Appeal Book – Respondent VIH And PHC
(9) A4C Appeal – Appeal Record – Stand Alone Respondents VIHA
(10) A4C Appeal – Appeal Record – Stand Alone
(11) A4C Appeal – Factum – Appellant
(12) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent Attorney General Of Canada
(13) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent BC Ferries and Brittney Sylvester
(14) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent HMK -Provincial Defendants
(15) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent Peter Kwok and Translink
(16) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent VIHA and Providence Health
(17) A4C Appeal – Consent Order – Factum, Time Limits
(18) A4C Appeal – Change In Representation – BC Defendants
(19) A4C Appeal – Notice Of Hearing February 2024
ACTION4CANADA BCSC DOCUMENTS:
(1) A4C BCSC – Notice Of Civil Claim
(2) A4C BCSC – Response to Civil Claim (Health Authority Defendants)
(3) A4C BCSC – Response to Civil Claim (Provincial Defendants)
(4) A4C BCSC – Affidavit No 1 of Rebecca Hill
(5) A4C BCSC – Notice of Application (AG and RCMP applies to strike)
(6) A4C BCSC – Notice of Application (Provincial Defendants applies to strike)
(7) A4C BCSC – Notice of Application (Translink applies to strike)
(8) A4C BCSC – Application Response (Health Authority Defendants consent to strike)
(9) A4C BCSC – Application Response (BC Ferries consents to strike)
(10) A4C BCSC – Application Response (AG and RCMP consent to Prov. strike application)
(11) A4C BCSC – Application Response (Translink consents to HA Defendants strike application)
(12) A4C BCSC – Application Response (Translink consents to Prov. strike application)
(13) A4C BCSC – Affidavit No 2 of Rebecca Hill
(14) A4C BCSC – Application Record (to strike)
(15) A4C BCSC – Application Response (all plaintiffs)
(16) A4C BCSC – Amended Application Response (all plaintiffs)
(17) A4C BCSC – Transcript Application To Strike
(18) A4C BCSC – Reasons For Striking NOCC In Its Entirety
(19) A4C BCSC – Order striking pleadings
(20) A4C BCSC – Order striking pleading in its entirety with costs payable forthwith
(21) A4C BCSC – Appointment to assess bill of costs for Kwok and Translink
(22) A4C BCSC – Notice of Discontinuance (Kimberly Woolman & Estate of Jaqueline Woolman)
(23) A4C BCSC – Notice of Discontinuance (Amy Muranetz)
(24) A4C BCSC – Notice of Discontinuance (Federico Fuoco & Fire Productions Ltd.)
OTHER:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc1507/2022bcsc1507.html
(2) https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/Website/media/Shared/docs/becoming/material/civil.pdf
(3) https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/168_2009_01#rule3-1
(4) https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso/index.do
(5) https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/120_2022a#division_d0e3656
(6) https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2022/2022bcca450/2022bcca450.html#par10
ACTION4CANADA FINANCIAL DOCS:
(A) A4C Docs Profits And Losses 2021-2022
(B) A4C Docs Balance Sheet 2021-2022
(C) A4C-Docs-General-Ledger-2021-2022