As many are aware, Courts typically make information available online for the public to look up. The Courts in British Columbia do this, and allow documents to be directly downloaded. It’s great for researchers and journalists.
This will likely be the last post on the subject, since there’s no realistic prospect of having new material to cover. Put simply: donors were lied to, and ripped off.
A few years ago, Action4Canada made national news with their nonsense lawsuit.
Fast forward to today. According to the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, no amended Notice of Civil Claim (or NOCC) has been filed. A quick search with Court Services Online has confirmed that.
The 2023 activity seen above had to do with Action4Canada challenging the costs to be awarded to some of the Respondents. It had nothing to do with fixing the existing pleading.
Brief Timeline Of Events Leading To This
Summer 2020: Action4Canada solicits donations for a promised “Constitutional challenge”, but doesn’t actually deliver anything. Naive donors hand over large amounts of money.
August 2021: The Notice of Civil Claim is eventually filed. It’s a rambling, disjointed and incoherent 391 page document. It obviously doesn’t comply with the Rules of Civil Procedure.
August 2022: The Claim is struck as “bad beyond argument”. However, Justice Ross does allow for a rewrite, which is referred to as “Leave to Amend”.
September 2022: Instead of rewriting the NOCC, the decision is appealed.
February 2023: Action4Canada becomes the laughing stock of the legal profession in B.C. The Law Society of B.C. includes Justice Ross’ decision in their latest training manual for new lawyers. This proceeding is cited as an example of what not to do.
October 2023: After publicly getting called out for delay, Action4Canada does eventually arrange to have the hearing scheduled.
February 2024: The B.C. Court of Appeal hears the case. The Justices appear baffled, and cannot understand the purpose of the Appeal. After all, it was agreed the NOCC was “prolix” and had to be rewritten anyway.
February 2024: The B.C. Court of Appeal dismisses the Appeal. Justice Marchand writes that no “reviewable error” had been identified, and confirms the NOCC wasn’t written properly.
That was February, and this is October.
No Amended Notice Of Claim Was Ever Filed
Despite their Appeal being dismissed, Action4Canada went on to publish that it was somehow a “successful outcome”.
However, we are now into October 2024. Nearly 8 months have passed since the BCCA ruling. There’s no amended Claim on file, and in fact, no activity at all with the file.
Were a new NOCC be filed, it would of course face another Application to Strike. Counsel has repeatedly proven to be unable (or unwilling) to follow Civil Procedure when drafting documents. While Justice Ross did allow a rewrite last time, it won’t happen again, especially with the wasteful Appeal.
Even in the remote possibility that a new — and decent — NOCC is filed, the Statute of Limitations only gives 2 years. Any new allegations prior to October 2022 would likely be disallowed. This is one of the few deadlines that’s strictly enforced by the Courts.
With all of this information taken into account, it’s reasonable to conclude that Action4Canada NEVER intended to go ahead with their case. People were lied to since 2020 to get them to donate.
They call critics “paid agitators” but never meaningfully address the litany of valid criticisms about their litigation. See here, here, here, here and here.
So, that appears to be the end of this case, at least on this site.
Action4Canada lied about this lawsuit, supposedly to take down Bonnie Henry. They wasted hundreds of thousands in donor money, with nothing to show for it. The Claim and Appeal were clearly designed to go nowhere.
These people belong in prison, not given deference as “respected elders”.
Remember: The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves, and to sue our critics.
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
(20) CanLII Decision In Action4Canada Appeal
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