Note: Court documents are provided below. Help yourself!
August 2020 (or around then), a group called Action4Canada began soliciting donations for the promise of a lawsuit to challenge martial law measures in British Columbia. However, it would be about a year before anything would materialize.
August 17th, 2021, Action4Canada filed this 391 page Notice of Civil Claim (a.k.a. Statement of Claim) in Vancouver. To put it very mildly, the lawsuit was a complete mess, and never stood any chance of making it to Trial.
August 31st, the Canuck Law site published this review of Action4Canada’s 391 page Notice of Civil Claim (NOCC). The gist of the article was that the document completely failed to meet the basics of the Rules of Civil Procedure for British Columbia, and would inevitably be struck.
Rule 3-1 — Notice of Civil Claim
Notice of civil claim
(1) To start a proceeding under this Part, a person must file a notice of civil claim in Form 1.
.
Contents of notice of civil claim
(2) A notice of civil claim must do the following:
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(a) set out a concise statement of the material facts giving rise to the claim;
(b) set out the relief sought by the plaintiff against each named defendant;
(c) set out a concise summary of the legal basis for the relief sought;
(d) set out the proposed place of trial;
(e) if the plaintiff sues or a defendant is sued in a representative capacity, show in what capacity the plaintiff sues or the defendant is sued;
(f) provide the data collection information required in the appendix to the form;
(g) otherwise comply with Rule 3-7.
Rule 3-7 — Pleadings Generally
Content of Pleadings
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Pleading must not contain evidence
(1) A pleading must not contain the evidence by which the facts alleged in it are to be proved.
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Documents and conversations
(2) The effect of any document or the purport of any conversation referred to in a pleading, if material, must be stated briefly and the precise words of the documents or conversation must not be stated, except insofar as those words are themselves material.
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When presumed facts need not be pleaded
(3) A party need not plead a fact if
(a) the fact is presumed by law to be true, or
(b) the burden of disproving the fact lies on the other party.
That article gathered some real traction, and was spread throughout the alt-media and freedom community. However, it seemed that the people at Action4Canada were outraged, and alleged that it caused a drop in donations.
September 7th, the Canuck Law site was sued for defamation for $7,000,000, and that article was specifically included. It’s believed that the head of Action4Canada instigated the suit, in retaliation for increased scrutiny, and the loss in donations.
May 31st, 2022, an Application to Strike was heard in Vancouver to throw out Action4Canada’s case. This came after months of the Plaintiffs trying to delay matters.
August 29th, 2022, Justice Alan Ross struck the Action4Canada case in its entirety, although a rewrite was allowed. His ruling greatly paralleled the 2021 review that this site had been sued over. Even the B.C. Law Society piled on, using this case as an example of how not to draft pleadings. See page 15, (27 overall).It was a bittersweet vindication.
That said, Justice Ross did allow the NOCC to be rewritten, and that’s where things get interesting. The Plaintiffs could have just written it properly, but instead, the case was appealed.
Some Plaintiffs, such as Amy Muranetz and Federico Fuoco, saw the writing on the wall when the August ruling came. They realized that this wasn’t what they signed up for, and discontinued. But the Appeal is still going ahead with the majority of the parties.
The Appeal seeks to overturn several parts of Justice Ross’ decision, such as this:
[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.
Yes, the Appellants are trying to get the B.C. Court of Appeals to decide that a Civil Court is able to make criminal rulings, determine scientific consensus, and make rulings with respect to the Nuremberg Code and the Helsinki Declaration. Clearly, this will go nowhere.
The Appeal also states that costs should not have been awarded to the Defendants, despite the fact that the NOCC was incoherent. As costs are generally discretionary, this won’t make headway.
While claiming that the case was improperly struck, the Appellant’s Factum avoids the elephant in the room: the original Claim didn’t follow the Rules of Civil Procedure at all.
Again, the case could simply have been rewritten.
It’s worth noting that Action4Canada is still soliciting donations, under the pretense that an amended NOCC will be filed anytime. It’s been 8 months since Justice Ross’ ruling, and still nothing. Also, considering the mess the lawyers made last time, shouldn’t they be replaced by more competent people?
And is Lawrence Wong part of this, or is his office just a mailing address?
Action4Canada’s main lawyer said in an Affidavit earlier this year (while he’s suing other people out West) that the amended NOCC was on hold. Meanwhile, this group is still asking for more money, for a NOCC that they know isn’t coming anytime soon.
In reality, Action4Canada has been fundraising since about the Summer of 2020. As no legitimate lawsuit has been filed in nearly 3 years, is this not a scam?
Reading through the Respondents’ Factums — and there are 5 of them — they all point to the same thing. Instead of appealing, the Claim could simply have been written in a clear and intelligible way. Justice Ross provided that option.
The Factum from Action4Canada ignores the elephant in the room. The case was struck (largely) because it was so convoluted and incomprehensible. That point is glossed over almost entirely. And what so the Defendants (Respondents) have to say about this?
Factum of Attorney General of Canada:
[Page 14, Paragraph 27] The chambers judge found those pleadings above to be improper. However he did not dismiss those or any parts of the action. He did not conduct an exhaustive review of the claim. He determined that he was unable to parse the claim to indicate whether paragraphs, categories, or claims should remain in or should be struck, stating: “[t]hat is not the proper role of this court.”
Factum of B.C. Ferries, Brittney Sylvester:
[Page 5, Paragraph 15] The chambers judge’s finding of prolixity is unimpeachable. At more than 390 pages, the NOCC is clearly prolix. But sheer length is not the only problem. The NOCC’s scope is sweeping and unconstrained: it makes wide-ranging allegations—even against non-parties—that have little or no connection to any justiciable question of law. It contains extensive passages of completely irrelevant information and convoluted legal arguments. And as the chambers judge found, it is impenetrable: “[it] is not a pleading that can properly be answered by a responsive pleading”. As such, it was properly struck.
Factum of Provincial Defendants:
[Page 3, Paragraphs 11, 12] The NOCC is replete with wide-ranging and unconstrained allegations against both the defendants and non-parties. It alleges a vast narrative of global conspiracy, misfeasance in public office, and corporate and non-governmental organization corruption. Non-parties against whom the appellants levy allegations include Bill Gates, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Health Organization.
The appellants seek declaratory relief on numerous non-justiciable issues pertaining to questions of science, public health, and conspiracy theories. The appellants also allege numerous offences under the Criminal Code and violations of international legal instruments—none of which are viable causes of action in a domestic civil action.
Factum of Peter Kwok, TransLink:
[Page 2, Paragraph 9] Justice Ross found that the NOCC “is not a document that the court can mend by striking portions”. He noted that the NOCC contained “multiple allegations against the defendants individually and jointly”, such that it “would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for any individual defendant to determine whether it is required to respond to any particular allegation” . Justice Ross went on to find that the issues with the NOCC were so profound that it could not be saved by a piecemeal striking of the problematic portions, as doing so “would invite more confusion and greater expenditure of the resources of all concerned.”
Factum of Vancouver Island Health Authority and Providence Health Care:
[Page 6] The appellants ignore that the notice of civil claim was struck due to its prolix and confusing nature, and focus on challenging the obiter of Justice Ross in respect of which claims are properly included in the notice of civil claim. Justice Ross did not specifically strike any of the claims in the notice of civil claim, but rather sought to provide guidance on which claims could be properly included in the next iteration of the appellants’ notice of civil claim. These issues are irrelevant to the issue of whether or not Justice Ross’ order ought to be overturned. Rather, this appeal ought to address the serious defects in the notice of civil claim which render it prolix, scandalous, embarrassing, and confusing to the point where it is impossible to properly respond to.
As painful as this is to say, how are they wrong? These quotes explain quite well why the original NOCC was struck. And this leads to another point: Action4Canada frequently misrepresents why this happened at all. They admit it was prolix (too long), but downplay other issues.
Another common lie is that Justice Ross found the NOCC to be valid. He did no such thing. Instead, he said there were “potentially valid causes of action”, which is not same thing. There might be parts that theoretically could be litigated if the NOCC were written properly.
So, what happens when the B.C. Court of Appeals eventually throws this out? Will there be an Application for Leave (permission) to get the Supreme Court of Canada to hear this? If so, an amended NOCC may not be filed until 2025 or 2026.
Why wasn’t the original NOCC written properly?
Why appeal instead of just writing it according to the guidelines of Justice Ross?
Remember: the best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves!
On an unrelated, but humourous note: Action4Canada has apparently enraged gay rights groups to the point where some of their financial information was posted online. See General Ledger below. It seems that in late April 2022, page 10, there was a $200,000 transfer to pay for legal fees (and a corresponding transfer to cover the balance). It’s fair to assume that this “Action” has cost much more than half a million in total.
ACTION4CANADA APPEAL DOCUMENTS:
(1) A4C Notice Of Appeal September 28 2022
(2) A4C Appeal – Appeal Book – Appellant
(3) A4C Appeal – Appeal Book – Respondent VIH And PHC
(4) A4C Appeal – Appeal Record – Stand Alone Respondents VIHA
(5) A4C Appeal – Appeal Record – Stand Alone
(6) A4C Appeal – Factum – Appellant
(7) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent Attorney General Of Canada
(8) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent BC Ferries and Brittney Sylvester
(9) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent HMK -Provincial Defendants
(10) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent Peter Kwok and Translink
(11) A4C Appeal – Factum – Respondent VIHA and Providence Health
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
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
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