Review Of Winnipeg Class Action Lawsuit (Injection Mandates), Discontinued In May 2023

Back in December 2022, a Proposed Class Action was filed in Winnipeg against several Municipal and Provincial Defendants. This was to challenge the so-called “vaccine passport” system that was in place at the time.

These included:

  • The Government of Manitoba
  • Brent Roussin (Chief Medical Officer of Health)
  • The City of Winnipeg
  • City of Winnipeg Police Services

The Representative Plaintiff, Courtney Peters, was a civilian working as a Communications Operator with the Winnipeg Police. He had been there for 8 years at that point.

In an unsurprising move, both Manitoba and Winnipeg brought Motions to Strike the Claim. Aside from the significant pleading deficiencies, they stated that the Court had no jurisdiction, due to the collective bargaining system that was in place.

Rather than attempt to fight on for his clients, counsel discontinued the case.

Yet Another Case Discontinued By Leighton Grey

Just 6 months after it was filed, this Manitoba (Proposed) Class Action was dropped. It didn’t even get as far as having the Motion to Strike heard.

(a) Canada Post: struck in March 2024
(b) Canadian National Railway: discontinued in June 2023
(c) Purolator, discontinued in April 2023
(d) Westjet, discontinued in April 2023

Of course, there’s also this Proposed Class Action in Federal Court, with Chief Gregory Burke. Nearly 18 months after the suit was initiated, there’s been no progress beyond amending the Statement of Claim. No Motions. No Defences filed. No Certification started.

This has become a significant problem in recent years. Members of the public cheer as it *appears* someone is fighting for their rights, and they often donate. But then, those cases quietly disappear, and are never heard about again.

Timeline Of Major Events In Case

December 8th, 2022: Statement of Claim is filed in the King’s Bench Court of Manitoba

January 5th, 2023: Municipal Defendants prepare Notice of Motion to strike lawsuit.

January 6th, 2023: Manitoba Defendants prepare Notice of Motion to strike lawsuit.

February 14th, 2023: Hearing for Motion to Strike is adjourned.

February 27th, 2023: Hearing for Motion to Strike is adjourned.

April 27th, 2023: Hearing for Motion to Strike is adjourned.

May 25th, 2023: Notice of Discontinuance is filed.

As an aside, the Notice of Discontinuance is dated April 3rd, 2023, but wasn’t filed until the end of May. Perhaps dropping the case had long been the intention.

There are so many examples of this happening.

(1) Winnipeg Class Action Statement Of Claim
(2) Winnipeg Class Action Notice Of Motion Municipal Defendants
(3) Winnipeg Class Action Notice Of Motion Provincial Defendants
(4) Winnipeg Class Action Affidavit Of Service
(5) Winnipeg Class Action Notice Of Discontinuance
(6) https://web43.gov.mb.ca/Registry/NameSearch

Just A Coincidence? Ferryman’s Toll & Elisa Ferryman-Cohen?

Is this where “The Ferryman’s Toll” really comes from?

Earlier this year, this site covered the Cornell lawsuit, filed in Ottawa. This was to be the big case against the Government and the banks, for how they acted under the guise of a national emergency. Supposedly, this was the comedy of errors that led Ottawa and law enforcement to panic based on publications from online trolls.

But alas, the hype was overblown. Bernie Farber and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) were able to remove themselves from the proceedings by filing an anti-SLAPP Motion. It worked, and they’re off the hook. Plaintiffs tried to litigate the #HateGate scandal, based on the work of Caryma Sa’d and Elisa Hategan. In doing so, the Plaintiffs’ incompetent lawyers screwed up the case by not properly pleading defamation allegations.

CAHN’s lawyers apparently conducted the entire anti-SLAPP Motion for under $50,000, which is far cheaper than what normally happens in Ontario. The Plaintiffs still thought that was too high.

As for Hategan’s background:

  • She co-authored the “HateGate” report with Caryma Sa’d.
  • She was involved with a “hate” group called Heritage Front in the 1990’s.
  • She became an informant for the Ontario Provincial Police (O.P.P.).
  • She helped gather evidence and intelligence for the police.
  • She helped take down many “racists” connected to Heritage Front.
  • She went on to do many talks about the dangers and harms of racism
  • And, Heritage Front turned out to be co-founded by Grant Bristow, a CSIS agent.

None of the above claims are disputed by Hategan. She has spoken and written about her experiences with the group many times over the years.

As an aside, both Hategan and Sa’d (unsuccessfully) sued Bernie Farber recently.

Hategan v. Farber, 2021 ONSC 874 (CanLII)
Hategan v. Frederiksen, 2022 ONCA 217 (CanLII)
Hategan v. Frederiksen, 2022 ONCA 715 (CanLII)
Hategan v. Frederiksen, 2023 ONCA 57 (CanLII)
Sa’d v. Yew, 2023 FC 1286 (CanLII)

Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the HateGate scam are available here.

There’s been speculation that Diagolon turned out to be the next iteration of Heritage Front. This is the group run by Jeremy “Raging Dissident” MacKenzie, Derek “Rants” Harrison, and Alex “Ferryman’s Toll” Vriend. And there is a lot of overlap between the two.

But in following up on the Ottawa lawsuit, this gem emerged:

Farber, CAHN Claim Hategan Is Really Elisa Ferryman-Cohen

34. Several other portions of the affidavit contain inadmissible hearsay. Most noteworthy, Mr. Gircys relies heavily on the so-called conclusions of an online post entitled the “HateGate Affair”. It is significant that the authors of that self-published website post, Caryma Sa’d and ‘Elisa Hategan’ (real name Elisa FERRYMAN-COHEN), have previously sued CAHN and Mr. Farber. Ms. Sa’d’s claim against CAHN in Federal Court was dismissed without leave to amend as having no factual or legal basis, and therefore no reasonable prospect of success. Ms. Hategan’s claim against Mr. Farber in this Court was dismissed as frivolous and vexatious and “a waste of the time and resources of the courts.” These are but further angles of the same baseless conspiracy theories levelled at CAHN in this litigation, demonstrating it is a SLAPP.

This is from paragraph 34 of the Defendants’/Moving Parties’ Factum or arguments. Farber and CAHN argued that the lawsuit — as far as they were concerned — was politically motivated.

Vincent Gircys, one of the Plaintiffs, filed an Affidavit in an attempt to ward of the anti-SLAPP Motion brought by Farber and CAHN. He attaches the report from Sa’d and Hategan as an exhibit.

The report is dismissed as “inadmissible hearsay” by Farber’s and CAHN’s lawyers. No surprise there. But what is very interesting is that they claim that Hategan isn’t even a real name. Supposedly, she is really Elisa Ferryman-Cohen.

Note: After looking into it more, and with some help, it appears that it was legally changed years ago. She still goes by Hategan though, at least publicly.

It raises the question how Hategan (or whoever) would be able to sue in Court under a very old name. Was CAHN not aware of it at the time?

Where Did “The Ferryman’s Toll” Really Come From?

We know that Elisa Hategan (or Ferryman-Cohen) worked as a police informant to take down Heritage Front. This was a CSIS operation designed to root out “racists” and “white nationalists”. This has been long established.

Alex Vriend is now a leading figure in “Diagolon” which comes across as little more than a honeypot. Currently, they’re asking for background checks… which would presumably tip off law enforcement about who’s applying. And of all the nicknames he could choose for himself…. he goes with Ferryman.

Why would he name himself after a former police informant from a generation ago?

Keep in mind, that same informant wrote a paper “exonerating” the group recently.

Moreover, this revelation about ‘Hategan’ was completely new. There’s nothing online, her book, or her biography that suggests what CAHN and Farber claim. She admits changing “Elisse” to “Elisa”, but that’s it. No other last name(s) are mentioned. Perhaps it’s a way to separate work life and private life.

Is this all just a bizarre coincidence? Or is the “next Ferryman” about to subvert and destroy nationalism in Canada?

FARBER/CAHN/GIRCYS/CORNELL LAWSUIT
(1) https://lobergector.com/
(2) https://lobergector.com/emergencies-act
(3) https://lobergector.com/contact-us
(4) Cornell Notice Of Action
(5) Cornell Statement Of Claim
(6) Cornell Farber CAHN Notice Of Motion Anti-SLAPP
(7) Cornell Farber CAHN Motion Record Anti-SLAPP
(8) Cornell Richard Warman Affidavit Anti-SLAPP
(10) Cornell Vincent Gircys Affidavit Anti-SLAPP
(11) Cornell HateGatePaper Filed As Exhibit
(12) Cornell Factum Of Farber CAHN Anti-SLAPP
(13) Cornell Defendant Cost Submissions Anti-SLAPP
(14) Cornell Plaintiff Cost Submissions Anti-SLAPP
(15) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2024/2024onsc5343/2024onsc5343.html
(16) https://www.antihate.ca/freedom_convoy_conspiracy_theory_kicked_out_of_court
(17) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-c43/latest/rso-1990-c-c43.html#sec137.1_smooth

Review Of Westjet Injection Pass Lawsuit, Dropped In April 2023

Countless times in the last few years, we come across announcements about lawsuits being filed to challenge so-called injection passports. There’s initially plenty of hope and optimism that meaningful results will force Governments to change their ways. And a suit filed against Westjet in the Fall of 2022 was one such example.

The suit named:

  • His Majesty The King in Right of Canada
  • Attorney General of Canada
  • Westjet Group Inc.
  • Westjet Airlines Ltd.
  • Westjet Encore
  • Westjet Vacations Inc.
  • Swoop Inc.

These announcements are typically followed up with requests for donations, or solicitations for more clients, and more fees. There’s never really “enough” money.

But all too often, there won’t be any new reporting.

This is usually because they’re quietly dropped. And that’s exactly what happened here.

Shoddy Claims Being Recycled In Federal Court

The Westjet lawsuit should look familiar. It was filed by Leighton Grey of the firm Grey Wowk Spencer. It’s one of many filed in recent years that went absolutely nowhere.

(a) Canada Post: struck in March 2024
(b) Canadian National Railway: discontinued in June 2023
(c) Purolator, discontinued in April 2023

Grey has been in the press many times since 2020, often for filing a high profile lawsuit. That said, rarely does anything ever come of it. These cases are typically struck or discontinued (dropped).

And here, “The Discontinuer” is at is again.

Once Again, No Material Facts Or Particulars Pleaded

Material facts
174 Every pleading shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the party relies, but shall not include evidence by which those facts are to be proved.

Particulars
181 (1) A pleading shall contain particulars of every allegation contained therein, including
(a) particulars of any alleged misrepresentation, fraud, breach of trust, willful default or undue influence; and
(b) particulars of any alleged state of mind of a person, including any alleged mental disorder or disability, malice or fraudulent intention.

Regular readers will have heard the terms “pleading facts” and “pleading particulars”. While the numbering systems differ, the Rules are the same across Canada. In short, there must be enough detailed information in a lawsuit that the opposing side is able to understand, and respond.

JURISDICTION PLEAD FACTS PLEAD PARTICULARS
Federal Court Rule 174 Rule 181
British Columbia Rule 3-1(2)(a) Rule 3-7(17)
Manitoba Rule 25.06(1) Rule 25.06(11)
Ontario Rule 25.06(1) Rule 25.06(8)
Nova Scotia Rule 38.02(2) and (3) Rule 38.03(3)

One of the reasons Grey’s claims are typically so short is that he rarely pleads any facts. Despite having over 100 Plaintiffs, the suit is less than 25 pages. Once again, there’s no specific information about any Plaintiff, other than they are/were employees of Westjet. There’s nothing about:

  • Who is a current employee v.s. who left?
  • Who had no shots, 1 shots, 2 shots, or more?
  • Who worked remotely v.s. who worked in person?
  • Who got any sort of severance pay?
  • Who (if anyone) was subject to any bonus or performance contract?
  • Were there different unions, and any overlapping, or different policies?
  • Who raised which specific objection to taking the injections?
  • Who attempted which type of exemption method?
  • Which specific religious objections (for those who invoked it) applied and how?
  • Who went to grieve with their union?
  • What were the results of any internal grievance?

This isn’t to defend the policy at all. However, from a due process perspective, there’s so little information contained that it’s impossible to defend against. Basic information must be pleaded for each Plaintiff. Grey includes none of it.

None of the Charter violations are pleaded properly either. While (initially) the Court is to accept everything as true, there is very specific information that must be alleged to make it possible to advance.

There’s also a lack of particulars. The suit makes all kinds of allegations of malice, bad faith, and malfeasance of public office, but doesn’t spell out any of it.

The Claim and Amended Claim include allegations which a Civil Court doesn’t have jurisdiction over, such as relying on the Criminal Code of Canada.

Looking at the: (a) Canada Post; (b) CNR; (c) Purolator; and now (d) Westjet pleadings, it’s clear that it’s the same suit just tweaked a little. Grey merely changes the names in the Style of Cause (the Parties) and refiles elsewhere.

Clients are paying (presumably) good money for recycled garbage.

Westjet Has Collective Bargaining Agreement For Employees

Westjet employees appear to be part of CUPE Local 4070, which is one of many unions. Unsurprisingly, there is a collective bargaining agreement which outlines most of the important things involved.

Article 30 lists the various steps involved, and the people who are involved. Like many unions, Arbitration and not litigation, is considered to be the final one. Article 31 then goes through the process itself.

Grey discontinued the case rather than have the jurisdiction challenged. He has done this with multiple lawsuits now.

Now, Umar Sheikh and Angela Wood showed a way around the grievance requirement in another Federal case. Specifically, they argued that the introduction of the injection pass was a new condition imposed “without meaningful consultation”. Basically, the way mandates were implemented circumvented the grievance process. They successfully stopped a Motion to Strike.

Perhaps Grey could have done the same.

Timeline Of Major Events In Case

October 4th, 2022: Statement of Claim is filed.

November 17th, 2022: Defence files Notice of Intent to Respond.

November 20th, 2022: Case management is ordered.

November 21st, 2022: Amended Statement of Claim is filed.

December 5th, 2022: Plaintiffs (a) Erin Shannon; (b) Tara Mainland; (c) Jennifer Masterman all send in Notices of Discontinuance.

December 8th, 2022: Plaintiff’s lawyer (Grey) submits letter with proposed timetable.

February 28th, 2023: Court orders case management conference on March 13th, 2023.

March 13th, 2023: Conference discusses options of discontinuing overall, or setting timetable to file materials for Motion to Strike.

April 12th, 2023: Lawsuit is discontinued.

Note: All of the dates listed can be confirmed by searching the respective cases on the Federal Court website. It keeps a detailed listing of all significant events.

And that’s how this Westjet case concluded.

The Government (and the Westjet Defendants) threatened to bring Motions to Strike. The likely reasons were the lack of jurisdiction, and the shoddy nature of the pleadings. Rather than fight, the lawyer dropped the case. He never even tried to fight back.

Before even a single Motion could be argued, the entire lawsuit was discontinued. Plaintiffs are presumably out of luck for any retainer fees they’ve paid.

WESTJET DOCUMENTS:
(1) Westjet Statement Of Claim October 2022
(2) Westjet Amended Statement Of Claim November 2022
(3) Westjet Order Timetable December 2022
(4) Westjet Notice Of Discontinuance April 2023

UNION DOCUMENTS:
(1) https://www.cupe4070.ca/collective-agreements
(2) Westjet CUPE 4070 Collective Bargaining Agreement

Worse Than The Original: Galati/Action4Canada File Amended Notice Of Civil Claim

A word of advice: when a party to a lawsuit dies, it’s best to have their name removed. It can look pretty silly when this isn’t done, as is the case with former B.C. Premier, John Horgan.

Action4Canada has (surprisingly) filed their Amended Notice of Civil Claim, or NOCC. They, and their counsel, have decided to keeping spamming the Courts by resubmitting content similar to what’s been struck as “bad beyond argument”.

And “spamming” is how one can describe this.

It’s hard to imagine at this point that it’s being done in good faith. There’s only so many times the Courts — and online trolls — can explain the same points to “Canada’s top Constitutional lawyer”. 5 separate Courts have struck similar pleadings, yet the new one here is more of the same.

To be somewhat balanced, there are genuine improvements. The length has been cut from 391 pages down to 54. The claims about Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, GAVI, the World Economic Forum, etc… have been removed. The allegations pleaded by the various Plaintiffs are better organized, and more readable. And since this is older content being refiled, the Statute of Limitations shouldn’t be much of a factor. Overall, this version is far easier to follow.

Briefly, here are the positions as alleged.

  1. Action4Canada: An advocacy group, with an interest in the rule of law
  2. “Jane Doe”: Mistreatment by the hospital for not honouring mask exemption
  3. Ilona Zink: Lost her business in 2020 due to forced shutdowns
  4. Valerie Ann Foley: Forced from Vancouver public transit, assaulted, over no mask
  5. Linda Morken: Refused service over no mask, arrested for refusing to leave
  6. Gary Morken: Fined over no mask, had to pick up Linda
  7. Pastor Randy Beatty: Church services disrupted over lockdown measures
  8. Brittany Wilson: Nurse, forced from her career over mask and vaccine requirements

Hard to believe, but there *might* be valid Causes of Action. That said, this is hardly the groundbreaking Claim we were all led to believe was coming.

True, there were initially other Plaintiffs, but they left in 2022, following the comically bad performance of Galati and the “bad beyond argument” decision.

That being said, the newer version goes considerably downhill in many ways, compared to the original. It introduces new errors that weren’t present in 2021, and leaves many older problems unfixed. The new errors were likely the result of copying portions of more recent claims.

One of the most comical screwups is that Action4Canada and the other Plaintiffs are still suing John Horgan. He died of cancer a month ago, and the story was national news. While other parties were removed from the Style of Cause (names at the top), Horgan is still there. It’s not his estate that’s being sued, it’s him personally, which is now impossible.

But don’t worry, it gets much, MUCH worse.

Galati Content Previously Struck By 5 Different Courts

For some additional context, here’s the recent Dorceus review, which outlined the frustration the Courts are feeling about Galati refiling the same cases.

(1) British Columbia Supreme Court (Justice Ross)
Action4Canada v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2022 BCSC 1507 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc1507/2022bcsc1507.html

(2) British Columbia Court of Appeal (Justices Marchand, Dickson, Voith)
Action4Canada v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2024 BCCA 59 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2024/2024bcca59/2024bcca59.html

(3) Federal Court of Canada (Justice Fothergill)
Adelberg v. Canada, 2023 FC 252 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2023/2023fc252/2023fc252.html

(4) Federal Court of Appeal (Justices Gleason, Boivin, LeBlanc)
Adelberg v. Canada, 2024 FCA 106 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2024/2024fca106/2024fca106.html

(5) Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Justice Koehnen)
Dorceus v. Ontario et al., 2024 ONSC 7087 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2024/2024onsc7087/2024onsc7087.html

5 separate Courts: (a) 2 Federal Courts; (b) 2 British Columbia Courts; and (c) the Ontario Superior Court have all thrown out similar pleadings. Justice Chalmers, also in Ontario, took a hardline as well.

This is “Bank of Canada” level bad.

Now, what’s wrong with the current Action4Canada NOCC?

1. Galati STILL Seeks Relief Outside Civil Court Jurisdiction

Galati has been told REPEATEDLY by various Courts to seek only Relief that is within the jurisdiction of the Court. Different types of Courts have different roles, and they need to respect each other. This is obvious, and shouldn’t need explaining.

Except Galati does need to have this explained again and again. Once more, he seeks Relief surrounding: (a) Nuremberg Code; (b) Helsinki Declaration; (c) Criminal Code of Canada, (d) Convention on the Rights of the Child, and more. One has to suspect he simply doesn’t read decisions in his own cases.

2. “Relief Sought” Section Runs Nearly 13 Pages, Is Unworkable

Galati pleads the the section on Relief Sought from paragraph 96 (page 35) to paragraph 121 (page 47). This amounts to nearly 13 pages. Keep in mind, this isn’t 13 items he’s asking for. It’s 13 pages. It’s based largely on facts that aren’t pleaded, and expert evidence improperly listed.

Worth mentioning, the original A4C Claim had 44 pages of Relief Sought, and covered the same sorts of non-justiciable issues. While shorter, it hasn’t really improved in terms of quality.

3. Galati Again Using Pseudo-Legal Concepts To Argue Case

A problem that regularly creeps into his cases is that he cites authorities that don’t have a place in modern Canadian jurisprudence, such as the English Bill of Rights. From the CSASPP defamation case, Justice Chalmers had this to say:

[75] In the e-mail to Mr. Dicks, Mr. Gandhi states that lawyers who reviewed the Ontario claim, “said it was very poorly drafted” and “will most likely get struck”. I am of the view that there is justification for this comment. The Ontario pleading is prolix and argumentative. The claim advances pseudo-legal concepts and conspiracy theories that the pandemic was pre-planned and executed by the WHO, Bill Gates, the World Economic Forum and unnamed billionaires and oligarchs. The similarly drafted A4C claim was struck by Justice Ross. In doing so, he described the pleading as “bad beyond argument”.

Another of his favourites is the Magna Carta. While it’s recognized as a historical document, it simply isn’t used in modern times as a basis for law.

4. Relief Sought Over Torts No Plaintiff Pleaded

A common problem with the Amended NOCC is that it seeks Relief based on facts that no Plaintiff actually pleaded. This problem is persistent. While too numerous to list them all, here’s one:

Paragraph 107 seeks Declaratory Relief about the so-called “vaccine passports” being imposed by the Government. The issue here is that no Plaintiff pleads anything about it. Keep in mind, the original NOCC was filed in August 2021, before these were a thing.

The closest is Brittany Wilson saying that she needed vaccination to work in health care. However, that came from her employer, not the Government — at the time.

There’s also Declaratory Relief sought that vaccine passports breach Section 6 (Mobility) Charter Rights. This was probably cut-and-pasted from the travel mandates cases. No Plaintiff pleads that they were citizens prevented from entering, remaining in, or leaving Canada. Nor do any plead that they were refused the right to move between Provinces, or to earn a livelihood elsewhere.

5. Relief Sought For NON-EXISTENT Minor Plaintiffs

Galati seeks Declaratory Relief regarding 12-17 year olds being offered vaccines. Problem is: NONE of the Plaintiffs are minors, nor are any seeking remedies for any children in their care or custody. For this to apply, at least one Plaintiff would have to be in this situation.

6. Relief Against NON-EXISTENT Municipal Defendants

In this section, Galati seeks various forms of Declaratory Relief against “Provincial and Municipal Defendants”. Problem is, there aren’t any Municipal Defendants. Perhaps this was just cut-and-pasted from another Claim.

7. Relief Sought Against NON-EXISTENT Curfews

In paragraph 97(e), Galati seeks relief surrounding various stay-at-home orders, curfews, and other lockdown measures. Thing is, these didn’t happen in B.C., where this Claim is filed. True, things were far worse in Ontario and Quebec, but this simply doesn’t apply in B.C.

8. Action4Canada Isn’t A Proper Party To This Lawsuit

The only information Action4Canada pleads is that it was co-founded in 2019 and that it “steps up” to advocate on behalf of the rule of law, the Constitution, and democratic governance. It specifically cites what happened starting in 2020.

The group seeks Charter damages pursuant to s.2 (fundamental freedoms),s.6 (mobility), s.7 (security of the person) and s.15 (equality). However, there’s no information pleaded that — even if true — would address any of these torts. There are no material facts at all. A4C clearly lacks Private Interest Standing.

Canada v. Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United, 2012 SCC 45 is the case which establishes the test for Public Interest Standing.

(a) Serious Justiciable Issue
(b) The Nature of the Plaintiff’s Interest
(c) Reasonable and Effective Means of Bringing the Issue Before the Court

In theory, A4C could argue this, but there would be serious problems, especially given that their style of litigation isn’t exactly “reasonable and effective”.

9. “Jane Doe” Isn’t A Proper Party To This Lawsuit

Something Galati routinely does is sue on behalf of anonymous Plaintiffs. This is obviously not allowed, as one has the right to confront their accusers in Court. While one may wish to not be associated with litigation, having an “open Court principle” makes this difficult.

In fact, the Dorceus ruling addressed exactly that. Justice Koehnen struck 2 “John Does” and 1 “Jane Doe” for refusing to use their real names in Court. No reason had been provided for any of them doing this. The Plaintiff in this case will meet the same fate.

10. Plaintiffs Plead No Facts About Federal Defendants (Except RCMP)

In the NOCC, it’s required for Plaintiffs to plead material facts (Rule 3-1(2)(a)), and plead particulars (Rule 3-7(17)). This is redundant, and covered many times before.

Problem is, the Plaintiffs don’t plead any facts whatsoever related to the Federal Defendants, with the exception of the RCMP. This includes:

  • Justin Trudeau, current Prime Minister of Canada
  • Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer
  • His Majesty the King in Right of Canada
  • Attorney General of Canada
  • Omar Alghabra, Federal Minister of Transport

While it’s true that details in a Claim are to be assumed true, at least initially, there’s nothing in the NOCC that suggested the Plaintiffs were harmed by any of them. Their grievances now are primarily with the Provincial Defendants. A Judge will almost certainly strike the above named.

Yes, the originally NOCC contained loads of irrelevant information, but at least that version pleaded some facts about the above Parties. That’s all gone now.

11. Pleading Evidence Instead Of Pleading Facts

Rule 3-7 — Pleadings Generally
Content of Pleadings
.
Pleading must not contain evidence
(1) A pleading must not contain the evidence by which the facts alleged in it are to be proved.

Virtually everything from paragraph 37 (page 17) until about paragraph 94 (page 34) should be struck. It gets into expert evidence, which is not the role of the NOCC. That comes much later. Galati has been told this many times before, and refuses to listen. It also mentions many people: (a) Peter McCullough; (b) Peter Hotez; (c) Michael Yeadon; (d) William Haseltine, etc… who aren’t parties, and whom the Defendants likely don’t know.

12. Arguing Caselaw In A Notice Of Civil Claim

Once more, Galati tries to argue caselaw throughout the NOCC. This is likely done in order to appear smart, but is a serious mistake. The initial pleadings are not the place to dive into the law, and it’s not supposed to look like a Factum. All of those areas should properly be struck.

Will There Be Leave (Permission) To Further Amend?

That’s actually tricky to answer. Despite the Amended NOCC being full of deficiencies, it is considerably cleaned up. Courts tend to prefer to give “that extra chance”. There are allegations raised which *potentially* would be valid Causes of Action. As such, as least some of the Plaintiffs could proceed.

On the other hand, Galati is (to a large degree) simply recycling his pleadings yet again. He seems to have mostly ignored the guidance of Justice Ross, and appealed for no real reason. This pleading has many of the same defects, and adds in new ones. The B.C. Supreme Court could simply decide to end it all at the next Application to Strike.

Action4Canada has stated on countless occasions that they have tens of thousands of pages of expert reports and evidence ready to go. It’s that true, then why mess around with screwed up pleadings? Why repeatedly sabotage your own cases?

In any event, this lawsuit will never get to Trial.

Remember: the best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves!

ACTION4CANADA AMENDED CLAIM:
(1) A4C Amended Notice Of Civil Claim
(2) A4C Amended Claim VIHA Response

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

5th Galati Pleading Struck As “Abuse Of Public Resources”, $190,000 Costs Ordered In Dorceus

[53] I have the distinct impression from reading the Amended Claim as a whole that its object is not to vindicate the employment rights of the plaintiffs so much as it is to mount a political crusade in which the court will be used as a grandstand to conduct an inquiry into the effectiveness of vaccines and the effectiveness of government measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic by opponents of those measures.

[154] …. If this was not clear from the outset, it should have become clear by the time the British Columbia Supreme Court, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, and the Federal Court of Appeal struck out similarly drafted statements of claim prepared by the same lawyer. While the interests of a free and democratic society may warrant leeway with respect to the pursuit of unconventional claims at the outset, when such claims continue to be pursued after being struck out by four courts, they amount to an abuse of public resources.

[157] …. Plaintiffs’ counsel is a sole practitioner with a different cost structure than that of counsel for the Non-Governmental Defendants and that this is the fifth time that Plaintiffs’ counsel has litigated a motion to strike with respect to a claim of this nature. I expect having done this four times before, that there were significant cost efficiencies for Plaintiffs’ counsel, especially with respect to the factum.

-Justice Koehnen, Ontario Superior Court Judge

This week, 473 Plaintiffs, who are current and former health care workers, saw their Statement of Claim struck completely. This was partly because it was so poorly crafted, but also because most had collective bargaining agreements which prohibited lawsuits. Of those litigants, 395 belonged to some sort of union, while the other 78 did not. They had been employed all across Ontario.

If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s yet another scam lawsuit that has come crashing down on duped litigants. And this will cost them $190,000 for doing so.

Interestingly, one Plaintiff decided to retain a real lawyer and have a proper Claim drafted. That person was given permission to file. More on that later.

Previous Critique On Galati Case Aged Very, Very Well

Back in July, this review was posted about the numerous defects in the Statement of Claim. And as predicted, jurisdiction was a fatal law, at least for the unionized Plaintiffs.

While the Statute of Limitations wasn’t really a concern of the Court here, it may be if Plaintiffs decide to try their luck elsewhere. However, every other item on this list made its way into Justice Koehnen’s ruling in some form.

  1. Failure To establish Jurisdiction of the Court
  2. Failure to seek Relief within Jurisdiction of the Court
  3. Failure to plead concise set of material facts
  4. Failure to keep evidence out of Claim
  5. Failure to remove argument from Claim
  6. Failure to plead facts which would support conclusions of law
  7. Failure to give Claim particulars
  8. Failure to specify who should pay damages
  9. Failure to properly plead s.2 (fundamental freedoms) Charter breaches
  10. Failure to properly plead s.6 (mobility rights) Charter breaches
  11. Failure to properly plead s.7 (security of the person) Charter breaches
  12. Failure to properly plead s.15 (equality) Charter breaches
  13. Failure to properly plead tort of intimidation
  14. Failure to properly plead tort of conspiracy
  15. Failure to properly plead tort of malfeasance
  16. Failure to state a Cause of Action
  17. Failure to appreciate Statute of Limitations
  18. Claim just a duplicate of other cases

Perhaps most notably, the Court finally called Galati out for recycling his earlier cases. It’s long overdue for this to happen.

Galati Called Out For REPEATEDLY Wasting Court Resources

(1) British Columbia Supreme Court (Justice Ross)
Action4Canada v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2022 BCSC 1507 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc1507/2022bcsc1507.html

(2) British Columbia Court of Appeal (Justices Marchand, Dickson, Voith)
Action4Canada v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2024 BCCA 59 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2024/2024bcca59/2024bcca59.html

(3) Federal Court of Canada (Justice Fothergill)
Adelberg v. Canada, 2023 FC 252 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2023/2023fc252/2023fc252.html

(4) Federal Court of Appeal (Justices Gleason, Boivin, LeBlanc)
Adelberg v. Canada, 2024 FCA 106 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2024/2024fca106/2024fca106.html

Now we have this gem, the 5th pleading to be struck:

(5) Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Justice Koehnen)
Dorceus v. Ontario et al., 2024 ONSC 7087 (CanLII)
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2024/2024onsc7087/2024onsc7087.html

Worth noting: Justice Chalmers of the Ontario Superior Court weighed in a year ago when CSASPP was sued for defamation. He dismissed that case under anti-SLAPP laws, and awarded $132,000 in costs. He was scathing in his decision.

[74] In the e-mail to Mr. Dicks dated January 29, 2022, Mr. Gandhi supported the statement with hyperlinks to support the statements. The statements made in the FAQ are also supported by hyperlinks that provides that factual support for the statements. The statements made in the e-mail to Mr. Dicks and in the FAQ, that the Plaintiff has been criticized by the courts in other cases, is supported by the following decisions: Sivak v. Canada, at para. 55, Galati v. Harper, at para. 35, Da Silva Campos v. Canada, at para. 12, Wang v. Canada, 2016 FC 1052, at para. 31, and Al Omani v. Canada 2017 FC 786, at para. 94-95.

[75] In the e-mail to Mr. Dicks, Mr. Gandhi states that lawyers who reviewed the Ontario claim, “said it was very poorly drafted” and “will most likely get struck”. I am of the view that there is justification for this comment. The Ontario pleading is prolix and argumentative. The claim advances pseudo-legal concepts and conspiracy theories that the pandemic was pre-planned and executed by the WHO, Bill Gates, the World Economic Forum and unnamed billionaires and oligarchs. The similarly drafted A4C claim was struck by Justice Ross. In doing so, he described the pleading as “bad beyond argument”.

[88] Here, the action commenced in Ontario by the Plaintiff is prolix and contains bizarre conspiracy theories. The action he commenced in British Columbia is similar. I am of the view that “what is really going on” in this case is an attempt by the Plaintiff to stifle public criticism about a class action claim that is not properly pleaded and improperly asserts bizarre conspiracy theories that are ineffective and have little or no chance of success.

Factoring in Justice Chalmers, 10 different Judges in 6 separate Court hearings have made determinations that this type of litigation is frivolous, an abuse of the Court system, improperly pleaded, and has little to no chance of success.

Keep in mind, this list would be a lot longer, if not for several cases that were dropped. These include: (a) Vaccine Choice Canada; (b) Katanik / Take Action Canada; (c) Children’s Health Defense Canada; and (d) Sgt. Julie Evans / Police on Guard.

Arbitration/Grievance Requirement Bars Unionized Workers

[13] The plaintiffs’ core complaint is that their employment was suspended or terminated as a result of their employer’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. Suspension and termination are core elements within the jurisdiction of labour arbitrators under the labour relations regime. The fact that the plaintiffs also go on to characterize their claims as ones for conspiracy, intimidation, intentional infliction of mental anguish and breach of the Charter does not change the analysis. All of those complaints remain rooted in the employment relationship and its suspension and termination.

Despite attempts to frame this (Dorceus) as conspiracy, intimidation, and a variety of other torts, Justice Koehnen stated that this is really about litigants having their employment conditions altered to require these vaccines. This was essentially constructive dismissal.

This finding was fatal to the unionized Plaintiffs, who were barred from the Courts.

Once Again, No Material Facts Or Particulars Pleaded

Rules of Pleading — Applicable to all Pleadings
Material Facts
.
25.06 (1) Every pleading shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the party relies for the claim or defence, but not the evidence by which those facts are to be proved.

Rules of Pleading — Applicable to all Pleadings
Nature of Act or Condition of Mind
.
25.06(8) Where fraud, misrepresentation, breach of trust, malice or intent is alleged, the pleading shall contain full particulars, but knowledge may be alleged as a fact without pleading the circumstances from which it is to be inferred.

Regular readers will have heard the terms “pleading facts” and “pleading particulars”. While the numbering systems differ, the Rules are the same across Canada.

JURISDICTION PLEAD FACTS PLEAD PARTICULARS
Federal Court Rule 174 Rule 181
British Columbia Rule 3-1(2)(a) Rule 3-7(17)
Manitoba Rule 25.06(1) Rule 25.06(11)
Ontario Rule 25.06(1) Rule 25.06(8)
Nova Scotia Rule 38.02(2) and (3) Rule 38.03(3)

From the ruling, we get this information:

[49] The Amended Statement of Claim is, at best, unusually drafted. A statement of claim is supposed to contain material facts on which the action is based. The Amended Statement of Claim contains few material facts about the employment of any of the 473 plaintiffs or the circumstances of their suspension or termination. Mr. Galati explained in oral argument that if the claim contained such facts, it would run into the hundreds of pages and would be challenged as unwieldly. That perhaps speaks to the advisability of pleading this as a consolidated claim.

Galati sued on behalf of nearly 500 people. He was required to plead facts about each Plaintiff that would establish a case for everyone. He had to plead facts about all the (alleged) Charter violations for each Plaintiff. A proper suit for so many people would have been several hundred pages in length. Other than naming their specific employers, he provided no detail about any of them.

Instead, it was the Defendants who compiled a 13,000 page, 23 volume Motion Record in preparing their Motion to Strike.

Even if this was a Class Action — which it wasn’t — sufficient facts would still have to be pleaded for every Representative Plaintiff.

Another missing part was particulars. When alleging malice, bad faith, malfeasance, or a host of other torts, they must be spelled out in detail. Procedurally, Defendants cannot be left guessing what the case against them is.

Plaintiff Beth Ann Dick Goes Her Own Way

[146] The plaintiff Beth Ann Dick provides an example of the sorts of considerations at issue here when determining whether leave to amend should be granted. Ms. Dick was initially represented by Mr. Galati. She says that she was not informed about the specific claims that Mr. Galati made on her behalf, did not speak with him, and did not meet him to discuss the individual circumstances of her claim, nor was she aware of the types of legal argument that would be made on her behalf.

[147] She has since retained Mr. R. P. O’Connor who has delivered a more conventional fresh as amended statement of claim. It narrows the claim to solely that of Ms. Dick against her former employer, removes the allegations of Charter breaches, removes outlandish allegations of false pandemics and crimes against humanity, and clearly pleads the necessary facts underlying causes of action in tort, contract, and breach of statute that she advances.

[148] Mr. O’Connor’s proposed amended statement of claim is an example of a pleading that survives a challenge under Rule 21. I grant leave to Ms. Dick to file the amended pleading she proposes.

Beth Ann Dick was a Plaintiff in the original case, but bailed out and retained a real lawyer. Her new counsel, R.P. O’Connor sent in a proposed Amended Statement of Claim that actually pleaded valid Causes of Action. It is (more or less) straight breach of contract.

If other Plaintiffs had been represented by a competent lawyer, things could very well have ended differently for them.

While the non-unionized Plaintiffs were granted Leave to Amend, any who want to will likely need to hire a better lawyer.

Missed Opportunity: Bill Galati For The $190,000 In Costs

While the Plaintiffs were hit with $190,000 in Court costs, this could have ended differently. If Justice Koehnen was serious about lawyers not abusing the Court process with duplicate Claims, he could have ordered Galati himself to pay. Rest assured, such baseless litigation would virtually disappear if lawyers were personally responsible for what they file.

Instead, it’s always the clients who have to pay, regardless of how badly (or how often) their counsel screws up.

And on a final note, Action4Canada eventually submitted their Amended Notice of Civil Claim (NOCC), nearly a year after the Court of Appeal laughed them out of Court. While much shorter, it contains many of the same defects that Justice Ross mentioned, and adds new ones in. Expect another Application to Strike.

DORCEUS DOCUMENTS:
(1) Grifters Main Page
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-1990-reg-194/latest
(3) https://www.ontario.ca/page/search-court-cases-online
(4) Dorceus Statement Of Claim
(5) Dorceus Amended Statement Of Claim
(6) Dorceus Defendant Moving Party Factum SJM Government
(7) Dorceus Defendant Moving Party Factum SJM Hospitals
(8) Dorceus Plaintiff Responding Factum SJM
(9) https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2024/2024onsc7087/2024onsc7087.html

PREVIOUS DECISIONS:
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc1507/2022bcsc1507.html
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2024/2024bcca59/2024bcca59.html
(3) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2023/2023fc252/2023fc252.html
(4) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2024/2024fca106/2024fca106.html

ACTION4CANADA:
(1) A4C Amended Notice Of Civil Claim

Canada Post Employees Appeal Dismissal Over Arbitration Requirements, Faulty Pleadings

Employees at Canada Post (a.k.a. the “Posties”) are trying to appeal a March 2024 ruling that saw their lawsuit struck, without an opportunity to amend. Rule 51 of the Federal Courts Rules allows for findings of Associate Judges to be reviewed by way of Motion. However, it wasn’t the Court that screwed them over, but their counsel.

They should have been advised from the beginning that filing the lawsuit in the first place was a dead end, with no chance of success. Or perhaps they were….

Backstory Of What’s Been Going On

For context: back in the Spring of 2022, an Arbitration Panel ruled against employees at Canada Post. The Union had challenged the new policy requirements for injections that the Federal Government had brought in. Understandably, many workers weren’t happy about it.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, or CUPW, is the group representing employees. There is, of course, a collective bargaining agreement that everyone is expected to follow. Article 9 specifies the grievance resolution process, and binding arbitration is the end. Arbitration is considered to be final, as it’s an alternative to going to Court. Although the CUPW did fight for its workers, they still lost. Arbitrator Thomas Jolliffe ruled against them.

However, if the process is unfair, there’s often a way to have it looked at. This is done by an Application for Judicial Review. It’s analogous to appealing an unfavourable ruling, if not handled properly. But that’s not what ended up happening.

Leighton Grey, an Alberta lawyer, apparently convinced a few hundred employees to ignore the decision of Arbitator Jolliffe, and the grievance process altogether. June 2022, he filed an 18 page Statement of Claim. Yes, he sued Canada Post, instead of asking the earlier decision to be reviewed.

The Claim itself was very poorly written, and lacked much of the necessary information to proceed. It pleaded no facts whatsoever about individual Plaintiffs — remember, it was only 18 pages — and didn’t provide the necessary particulars to support allegations of bad faith and malice. There was also the problem that while Canada Post was a Crown Corporation, legally, it was considered separate from the Government.

For the next year, the file was largely inactive. The Claim was later amended, and not for the better. Eventually, the Court ordered the case to advance, so the Defendants moved to have the case thrown out.

And the case was eventually struck, without Leave to Amend. Plaintiffs weren’t allowed to sue, just because they were unhappy with the Arbitration results. Moreover, the Claim wasn’t pleaded anywhere close to properly.

At least some of those clients now have a new lawyer, Jason Gratl. He’s now seeking an extension of time to file a Rule 51 Motion for Reconsideration. An included Affidavit also alleges Grey didn’t file Notice of Motion as expected.

Timeline Of Events Leading To This Point

This is a follow up to a March 2024 article on the Canada Post lawsuit. Even more background information is here, to help understand the chain of events. It’s important to note that the CUPW went through the full arbitration process — as required — prior to this lawsuit commencing.

Leighton Grey Implies Federal Court “Rigged” Outcome

In a post on Twitter, Grey comments about a case involving over 300 military veterans being struck. That too was struck for the 2 main reasons: (a) not following prescribed grievance scheme/lack of jurisdiction; and (b) failure to properly plead the Statement of Claim.

“Same judge”
“Same judgment”
“Same reasons”
“Same comments”
“Even the same costs”
“Is anyone else seeing a pattern?”

Yes, there obviously is a pattern. 2 grossly inept and incompetent lawyers — Grey and Catherine Christensen — filed claims when there was no jurisdiction to do so. Neither of them pleaded their cases with anywhere near the detail necessary to advance a suit anyway.

There’s also the issue raised that Canada Post, a Crown Corporation, is considered separate from the Government. While pedantic to many, it was raised at the hearing.

However, in the way this is presented, it looks as though Grey implies Associate Judge Coughlan has been maliciously fixing her decisions. Although careful not to state it directly, it’s the impression that his audience would be left with. He suggests that she, and perhaps the entire Federal Court, is corrupt.

Should lawyers be actively working to undermine trust and confidence in the Judiciary? That’s what it looks like Grey is intentionally doing.

Valour Legal Action Centre, the firm Christensen runs, tweeted out similar comments, implying that Associate Judge Coughlan fixed that one as well. These are very risky things to say, especially in light of the serious and legitimate errors raised in the respective cases.

Accusing the Federal Court, and Associate Judge Coughlan, of “hiding behind the grievance system”, amounts to an allegation of corruption. Is this wise to post on Twitter?

Grievance/Arbitration Requirement Bars Court Action

Canada Post is a unionized workplace, and there are systems in place to handle grievances. This is spelled out in Article 9 of the collective bargaining agreement. Most relevant is the requirement to seek arbitration if other, lesser methods fail. An Arbitrator’s ruling is to be considered final. There is no inherent right to sue.

As for the Canadian Government itself, legally, it’s distinct and separate from the Crown Corporations — yes, unfair — despite Canada Post obeying its orders to force injection mandates.

Arbitration didn’t go the way the workers wanted, so Grey sued the company anyway. Having the case struck for lack of jurisdiction was entirely predictable. However, he implies that the Federal Court had predetermined the outcome.

Grey also filed lawsuits against: (a) Canadian National Railway; and (b) Purolator in recent years. He’s well aware of this issue, as counsel in those cases have raised it as well.

As for the new lawyer, Jason Gratl, he’ll have a difficult time with his Rule 51 Motion, assuming he gets the time extension. In theory, a competent lawyer could plead a new Statement of Claim properly. That said, the lack of jurisdiction is fatal. No amount of pleading facts or detail will get around this, which makes one wonder why he’s doing this at all.

Rule 51 Motions are meant to correct errors made by the Associate Judge. They’re not a way to fix a mess created by incompetent counsel.

Statement Of Claim Not Pleaded Properly, Once Again

Material facts
174 Every pleading shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the party relies, but shall not include evidence by which those facts are to be proved.

Particulars
181 (1) A pleading shall contain particulars of every allegation contained therein, including
(a) particulars of any alleged misrepresentation, fraud, breach of trust, willful default or undue influence; and
(b) particulars of any alleged state of mind of a person, including any alleged mental disorder or disability, malice or fraudulent intention.

Regular readers on this site will have heard of Rules 174 and 181 of the Federal Court Rules. Similar provisions exist in all Provincial Courts as well.

However, Grey doesn’t do this at all. The Statement of Claim is just 18 pages, and there’s no information pleaded about any specific Plaintiff. “Facts” are supposed to include the who, what, where, when and how of events unfolding. There has to be enough detail about each Plaintiff that the Defendants can respond.

Grey doesn’t plead any facts that would establish any Charter breaches either. There are specific requirements that have to be met for each tort that each Plaintiff is raising.

Facts Required For Section 2a (Religion) To Be Considered

(1) that he or she sincerely believes in a practice or belief that has a nexus with religion, and
(2) that the impugned state conduct interferes, in a manner that is non‑trivial or not insubstantial, with his or her ability to act in accordance with that practice or belief

https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2017/2017fc1092/2017fc1092.html#22

Facts Required For Section 7 (Security) To Be Considered

(1) plaintiff must plead facts to establish a deprivation of their right to life, right to liberty or right to security of the person.
(2)The claim must then set out facts to show that any deprivation of these rights was effected in a manner contrary to the principles of fundamental justice.

https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2022/2022onsc2732/2022onsc2732.html#par69

Facts Required For Section 15 (Equality) To Be Considered

(1) on its face or in its impact, the state action creates a distinction based on a prohibited ground (either enumerated or analogous); and
(2) the state action imposes burdens or denies a benefit in a manner that has the effect of reinforcing, perpetuating or exacerbating disadvantage

ENUMERATED GROUND ANALOGOUS GROUND
Explicitly In Charter Recognized By Courts
Race Sexual Orientation
National/Ethnic Origin Marital Status
Colour Off-Reserve Band Member
Religion Citizenship
Sex
Age
Mental/Physical Disability

However, “vaccination status” has never been recognized as an analogous ground.

https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2022/2022onsc2732/2022onsc2732.html#par80

General Formula For Charter Damages Under Section 24

(i) establish whether there has been a Charter breach;
(ii) show why damages are a just and appropriate remedy, having regard to the related functions of compensation, vindication of the right (in question), and/or deterrence of future breaches;
(iii) if the plaintiff is successful in meeting these two steps, the state then has the opportunity to demonstrate that damages are inappropriate or unjust; and
(iv) if the state is unsuccessful, assess the quantum of damages

https://www.canlii.org/en/mb/mbca/doc/2012/2012mbca64/2012mbca64.html#11

And again, Grey would have to plead sufficient facts about each Plaintiff who was invoking these rights. However, there’s no information provided about any of them. No wonder the case was struck. It’s impossible to establish there’s been a Charter breach (part i), when there are no facts pled to even theoretically support such a claim.

As for “pleading particulars”, Rule 181 of Federal Court Rules, Grey makes all kinds of allegations of malice, conspiracy, and malfeasance of public office. He needs to explain the who, what, where, when and how that all of this happened.

Grey includes allegations such as Criminal Code violations — which would get the Claim immediately struck — because a Civil Court has no jurisdiction to hear them.

In fact, there’s no shortages of torts listed, but there are no facts or particulars included that would support a claim for any of them, in favour of any Plaintiff. It’s “Mr. Bad Beyond Argument 2.0”.

A proper Statement of Claim with this many Plaintiffs would be hundreds of pages long. It’s not something that Grey — or this new lawyer — can fix with amendments.

What Happens Now?

The Plaintiffs seeking to have the decision reviewed — which is not all of them — first need to convince the Court to grant an extension of time to have their main Motion heard. The first is a procedural Motion, and in theory, is doable.

Then, they need to be persuasive that Associate Judge Coughlan shouldn’t have thrown the case out completely, that she should have at least given Leave to Amend. This will be difficult, especially with: (a) Court not having proper jurisdiction; and (b) the Statement of Claim being so deficient of necessary information. It seems extremely unlikely for a review to be successful.

Arbitator Jolliffe’s ruling is considered binding.

To be honest, Jason Gratl would have far better luck suing Grey for incompetence, negligence, and malpractice. His performance falls far short of what one should expect from a senior lawyer. At least his clients would get some of their money back.

We’ll have to see how this plays out.

LITIGATION:
(1) Canada Post Statement Of Claim July 2022
(2) Canada Post Amended Statement Of Claim June 7 2023
(3) Canada Post Order Timetable July 2023
(4) Canada Post Defendants Motion Record October 2023
(5) Canada Post Plaintiff Responding Motion Record January 2024
(6) Canada Post Plaintiff Responding Motion Record CP February 2024
(7) Canada Post Further Amended Statement Of Claim February 2024
(8) Canada Post Decision Striking Amended Pleading
(9) Canada Post Notice Of Change Of Solicitor November 2024
(10) Canada Post Affidavit of Karine Solakian November 2024
(11) Canada Post Notice Of Motion November 2024

TWITTER:
(1) https://x.com/GreyMatterConvo/status/1858612823900770492
(2) https://x.com/GreyMatterConvo/status/1858635451839508580
(3) https://x.com/GreyMatterConvo/status/1858635720052584917
(4) https://x.com/ValourLegal/status/1858178030369186289

ARBITRATION:
(1) https://www.cupw.ca/sites/default/files/urb-ja-31-2022-ca-en.pdf
(2) Canada Post Collective Bargaining Agreement 2022
(3) Canada Post Arbitration update, February 2022 (removed)
(4) Wayback Machine Archive
(5) CUPW On Some Updates On Arbitration
(6) Wayback Machine Archive On Arbitration Updates
(7) https://www.cupw.ca/en/last-days-arbitration-vaccination-practice-grievance
(8) Wayback Machine Archive Of April 1st, 2022 Update
(9) https://www.cupw.ca/en/arbitrator-dismisses-grievance-against-canada-post%E2%80%99s-mandatory-vaccination-practice
(10) Arbitration Decision (Removed)
(11) Canada Post Arbitration Ruling, Full Text
(12) Wayback Machine Archive Of Arbitration Decision
(13) https://www.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/court-files-and-decisions/court-files#cont

OTHER LAWS AND DECISIONS
(1) https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc1507/2022bcsc1507.html#par52
(2) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2023/2023fc252/2023fc252.html#par51
(3) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2015/2015fca20/2015fca20.html
(4) https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2017/2017fc786/2017fc786.html#par32
(5) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/sor-98-106/index.html
(6) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/F-7/FullText.html
(7) https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-33.3/