UN/WHO – Canuck Law

April 27, 2025April 27, 2025

CSASPP Class Action Certification Application Still Under Reserve 2 Years Later

It has been a full 2 years since the Certification hearings concluded between CSASPP (the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy), the British Columbia Government, and Provincial Health Officer, Bonnie Henry. No ruling has been made yet.

The Government is also asking the Court to strike the case altogether. While surviving such Applications is usually straightforward, a class proceeding complicates things.

The stakes are very high. If certified, the case would potentially create millions of Plaintiffs.

The hearings began in December of 2022, and were expected to conclude in a single week. That didn’t happen, so a week in April 2023 was needed to finish them off. Then, the decision was deferred.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to make any progress until this is settled once and for all.

In fairness to Justice Crerar, he has a big workload to deal with.

That being said, people do need an answer as to whether or not this case will be certified. 2 years is a long time to make a decision, even with an undertaking of this size. Hopefully, one will come soon.

Timeline Of Major Events In Case

January, 2021: The case was initially filed in January 2021 as a Proposed Class Action.

March, 2021: The B.C. Government responds to the lawsuit.

June, 2021: Plaintiffs bring their proposal for case management.

July, 2021: Defendants bring their own proposal to manage the case.

September, 2021: Notice of Civil Claim is amended.

December, 2022: Certification hearings start, but take longer than originally anticipated. They were intended to be completed over a single week.

April 2023: Certification hearings resume, taking up another week. The decision is under reserve, meaning it will be issued later. However, Justice Crerar would still make several subsequent requests for submissions based on related cases happening elsewhere.

July, 2023: Ingram, the disaster of a ruling, is brought to Justice Crerar’s attention. This is the Alberta ruling that struck down orders on a technicality (Cabinet interference), but otherwise okayed them in principle.

September, 2023: Bonnie Henry’s lawyer objects to CSASPP filing a Petition against the vaccine passport for health care workers, claiming the existing litigation amounts to a duplication, and hence, abuse of process.

April, 2024: Justice Crerar sends notice that he will likely be issuing a decision on the Certification Application within a month or so. As a result, CSASPP forwards several recent rulings on related issues. But, the ruling is further delayed.

May, 2024: Bonnie Henry’s lawyers are invited to make further written submissions.

April, 2025: Randy Hillier’s win at the Ontario Court of Appeal is forwarded.

So, When Will The Decision Be Made?

There’s no way to answer this.

Justice Crerar has since released decisions in other cases, although, they’re much simpler in scope. The ruling he issues — whatever it is — will impact millions of people. The various requests for submissions suggest that he’s trying to ward off any possibility of an appeal.

For what it’s worth, the overall quality of the filings has been very high. This is night and day different from another case in Vancouver.

It’s a game of hurry-up-and-wait.

LINKS TO REVIEW:
(1) https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso/index.do
(2) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/court-documents
(3) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/status-updates
(4) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/faq
(5) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/transparency
(6) https://www.covidconstitutionalchallengebc.ca/hearing-videos
(7) https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2022/2022bcsc2108/2022bcsc2108.html

DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE FROM CASE
(A) CSASPP 20210126 Notice of Civil Claim
(B) CSASPP 20210321 Request for Assignment of Judge
(C) CSASPP 20210331 Response to Civil Claim
(D) CSASPP 20210531 Cease and Desist Letter to Regulators
(E) CSASPP 20210621 CSASPPs Case Plan Proposal
(F) CSASPP 20210621 Dr Bonnie Henrys availability requested
(G) CSASPP 20210731 Defendants Case Plan Proposal
(H) CSASPP 20210813 Requisition for JMC for 1 October 2021
(I) CSASPP 20210817 Demand for Particulars
(J) CSASPP 20210821 Plaintiffs Response to Demand for Particulars
(K) CSASPP 20210913 Oral Reasons for Judgment Short Leave Application Seeking Stay
(L) CSASPP 20210915 Amended Notice of Civil Claim
(M) CSASPP 20211025 Affidavit No 2 of CSASPP Executive Director
(N) CSASPP 20211028 Proceedings in Chambers Defendants Application for Further Particulars
(O) CSASPP 20221101 Affidavit No 3 of Redacted Deponent Redacted
(P) CSASPP 20221102 Dr Henry and HMTKs Application Response for Webcast Application
(Q) CSASPP 20221115 Respondents Requisition Seeking 16 Nov 2022 CPC to Be Held by MS Teams

April 25, 2025May 2, 2025

What Max Really Means With “The U.N. Is Dysfunctional” Sales Pitch

With the upcoming Federal election just days away, let’s dig a little bit into an old slogan.

Specifically, it’s the expression that “the United Nations is dysfunctional”. It’s something Maxime Bernier has said many times over the years, although the justifications have changed.

According to Bernier in his 2016/2017 CPC leadership race, this is the reason he stated that the United Nations was dysfunctional:

I won’t aim to please the foreign affairs establishment and the United Nations — a dysfunctional organisation which for years has disproportionately focused its activities on condemning Israel. Instead, I will ensure our country’s foreign policy will be refocused on the security and prosperity of Canadians.

Keep in mind, Bernier was Foreign Affairs Minister from 2007 to 2008. His job was to be up to date on what was happening internationally. Sure, there are many reasons that the U.N. could be viewed as dysfunctional. However, the only one he gave was that it spent too much time criticising Israel.

And why was the United Nations regularly condemning Israel? For continued expansion in the Middle East, and of violating various ceasefire agreements, among other things. The various resolutions are publicly available.

This isn’t a “Canada first” approach to foreign policy. It’s Bernier telling the U.N. to shut up about what’s going on in the region. It’s probably a very popular position in mainstream conservative circles.

Here’s the more recent, cleaned up version from the PPC website:

Over the past several years, Canada has signed many UN treaties, accords and compacts on issues ranging from global warming to migration and sustainable development, that tie us to the globalist agenda. The United Nations is a dysfunctional organisation where non-democratic countries, because of their large numbers, have the most influence. This leads to ridiculous situations. For example, several of the member states on the UN Human Rights Council are among the worst human rights offenders in the world. As one country among almost 200, Canada has no interest in seeing the UN grow into a more powerful, quasi-world government.

It certainly is ridiculous that some of the worst human rights offenders are part of the Human Rights Council. No sensible person would dispute that. That being said, it wasn’t enough of a concern when he ran for the CPC leadership to even put in his platform.

He likely realized it would be too hard to “sell” himself as a populist with the old version, so it needed to be amended.

And as for a quasi-world government, it’s strange that he seemed to have no idea what was happening under his nose in 2007. Again, he was the Foreign Affairs Minister.

His current stance is to rail against “neocons” who see nothing wrong with engineering regime change in places such as Ukraine. On the surface, there’s nothing to disagree with here.

Economic sanctions against Russia were a geopolitical blunder on the West’s part that backfired. They destabilized the global economy, and pushed the Russians into the arms of the Chinese. There is no reason to treat Russia as our enemy. The war did not start with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but when the neoconservatives in the US and their allies in Ottawa and European capitals engineered the regime change in Ukraine in 2014. It could have been avoided if NATO had not tried to encircle Russia and had given Putin assurances that Ukraine would never join it as a member.

However, some consistency would be nice.

Bernier voted to extend Canada’s commitment to war in the Middle East in 2006, and again in 2008. Apparently, he had no issue with prolonging our role in a foreign conflict and regime change. He’s against neocons and warmongers, except when he’s acting as one of them.

He’s extremely vague about what “our values” are as Canadians, and mostly refuses to specify what kinds of groups should be excluded from this country. There is one exception, what he calls “radical Islam”.

There are also some double standards surrounding free speech and political influence. Conservatives railed against Iqra Khalid’s Motion, M-103, which resulted in money being spent to combat Islamophobia. But they were supportive of Bill C-250, which jails people for Holocaust denial. And while Trudeau (rightfully) took flack for his trip to Aga Khan’s island, those same conservatives participate in taxpayer funded trips to Israel. Sure, China is a danger, but it’s hardly the only one.

Then there’s the issue of supporting Bill C-16, compelled speech for gender pronouns.

While Bill C-63 (Online Harms Act) was justifiably criticized, there’s silence on some of the foreign lobbies who are pushing for it. See here and here. If free speech is going to be gutted, there needs to be an honest and frank discussion about where it’s coming from.

Why does all of this matter? Because the whole “populist” narrative comes across as completely fake. It gives off the vibes of someone just going through the motions, for $104,000 per year.

***Edit: Bernier also voted for Tony Clement’s Motion condemning BDS (ban, divest, sanction) actions that would be directed at Israel. This hasn’t happened with any other foreign country.

There are, of course, the usual concerns about the lack of a constitution, or a genuine leadership race. Recently, Max bought a retirement home in Florida, and appears to live there. But even if PPC were a real party, who would be influencing it?

(1) Wayback Machine Link To Bernier’s Website
(2) https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/issues/foreign-policy
(3) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/39/1/9
(4) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/39/2/76
(5) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/42/1/237
(6) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/votes/42/1/126
(7) https://ciec-ccie.parl.gc.ca/en/publications/Pages/SponsoredTravel-DeplParraines.aspx
(8) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=610896
(9) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=607729
(10) https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/peoples-party-canada-maxime-bernier-1.5695908
(11) https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/votes/42/1/14

January 15, 2025January 16, 2025

Looking At The Burke Federal Proposed Class Action (Injection Mandates)

Canadians were subjected to varying forms of lockdown measures from 2020 through 2022. Some restrictions still exist today in places such as health care settings.

As a result, a topic that’s come up numerous times is the idea of Class Actions. This is based on the concept that a single lawsuit — if carefully prepared — will be much more effective than individual claims. Many more people could potentially benefit. And indeed, such cases have sprung up.

With that in mind, it’s worth asking: how are these cases going?

One such suit filed in Federal Court is Chief Gregory Burke v. His Majesty the King, and the Attorney General of Canada. It commenced back in September 2023. To put it mildly, advancing the case doesn’t appear to be much of a priority.

There’s just the Statement of Claim and an amended version on file, both of which look to be horribly deficient. It will have to be further amended.

No Motion to Strike has (yet) been commenced. There’s no Statement of Defence. It doesn’t look like any steps have been taken to certify the case as a Class Action. The most recent action was in December 2024, advising of potential dates for a case conference. Donations are being sought still.

Counsel’s Recent Record On “Vaccine Passport” Cases

This Proposed Class Action is being conducted by Leighton Grey of the firm Grey Wowk Spencer. He has filed several related lawsuits (not Class Actions) in Federal Court in recent years. However, the trend seems to be to discontinue — drop — them, rather than push through.

(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

A search of other Court records — such as Manitoba — reveal other, related cases which were promptly discontinued. One has to wonder how diligently this one will be pursued.

Nothing Pleaded About Chief Gregory Burke, Representative Plaintiff

Most people are familiar with the more “traditional” lawsuits. In those, the details of each Plaintiff must be spelled out in the Statement of Claim, and then, the Defendants respond. They typically know from the onset exactly who is suing them, and for how much.

For (Proposed) Class Actions, the Claim pleads information about 1 or more “Representative Plaintiffs” only. There are “subgroups” or “classes” listed of prospective litigants. They still have to provide enough detail about their own circumstances. Beyond that, there’s a process to attempt to certify the lawsuit as a Class Action. A Judge may (or may not) certify.

Only a single Representative Plaintiff — sometimes called a “Token Plaintiff” — is required, provided he or she is able to qualify for all classes.

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.

Problem here: there’s nothing pleaded about Chief Gregory Burke. Federal Court Rules make it clear what’s required in a Statement of Claim. Neither the original nor the amended version provide any information about him.

Since Burke is the only Representative Plaintiff, he must give sufficient detail to at least theoretically support all of such Claims. True, other Plaintiffs may be added, but only if Certification is successful. It’s probably too late to amend the Style of Cause (names of Parties).

Section 2(a) of the Charter;
Section 6 of the Charter (Mobility)
Section 7 of the Charter (Security of the Person)
Section 8 of the Charter (Unreasonable Search and Seizure)
Section 15 of the Charter (Equality)
Tortious interference of economic relations
Tortious inducement to breach contractual relations
Intentional infliction of mental suffering
Malfeasance of public office
Negligent representation
Human rights violations

These are just some of the torts alleged in the Statement of Claim. Problem is: Grey pleads no information to support any of it. Granted, it may be true, but there’s nothing explained. Many are simply listed, with no facts or particulars to support any of it.

We know Burke’s name, and that’s about it.

Yes, the Statement of Claim can usually be amended. Keep in mind though, the case was filed nearly a year and a half ago. Shouldn’t such information already be included?

The Representative Plaintiff is Chief Gregory Burke. He is a senior who lives in Nova Scotia. He was chosen for a number of reasons, including his resistance to lockdown tyranny, which is being prosecuted there. He is also a Metis hereditary Chief who fits into both of the subclasses described in the class action.

Heck, there’s more information listed on counsel’s website than there is in the Statement of Claim.

Other Nonsense Included In Statement Of Claim

The Claim bizarrely pleads product liability and breach of implied warranty. This doesn’t make any sense. If Burke were fighting lockdown tyranny, he wouldn’t have taken any of the injections. And in paragraph 5, it’s stated that the Plaintiffs hadn’t. This would only apply if someone had taken the shot(s) and been harmed. Beyond that, it would be the manufacturers who’d be potentially liable.

Starting around paragraph 57, there are allegations that the Government had breached its duty of care to the Plaintiffs. It goes on and on about the dangers posed by “experimental vaccines”. But once again, the Plaintiffs plead that none of them took the shots.

Grey pleads the Nuremberg Code among other remedies that have no jurisdiction in a Canadian Civil Court. This is a Galati favourite, and part of the reason his cases are typically struck early on.

As for the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, the purpose of that legislation had to do with race, ethnicity, and genetic disorders a person might have. It doesn’t apply here, yet lawyers routinely include it.

There are also allegations of interference with economic relations. For this tort to work, the Defendants would have to have done something improper or illegal to a third party that harmed the Plaintiffs. None of that is specified here. The employers would need to be identified, and the circumstances laid out.

The entire Claim reads as if Grey had simply cut and pasted from various other lawsuits, without paying much attention to how logical it all was.

Pleading Names The Subclasses (Groups of Plaintiffs)

Typically, a Class Action will name various “subclasses” of Plaintiffs. These are people who will still be part of the litigation, but whom have been impacted in different ways. Quote:

“Employment Subclass“: members who have experienced job loss or adverse employment effects as a result of the Defendants’ actions. This subclass includes those who have been terminated, denied promotions, experienced decreased working hours or suffered any other professional hardship
“Travel Subclass“: individuals who were prevented or prohibited from travelling due to their vaccination status. Members of this subclass have been adversely affected by the Defendants’ conduct and policies that either implicitly or explicitly restricted the mobility rights of unvaccinated individuals, thus causing significant disruption to both their personal and professional lives.
“Dual Impact Subclass“: is unique in that it encapsulates members who fall within both the aforementioned subclasses.

As stated before, there’s no information pleaded about Burke. He may very well have valid claims both regarding employment and travel, but there’s nothing provided.

Timeline Of Major Events In Case

September 23rd, 2023: Statement of Claim filed.

October 5th, 2023: Government sends notice that it will respond and defend.

November 1st, 2023: Associate Judge Michael D. Crinson and Justice Mandy Aylen are assigned to be case management Judges for the suit.

December 10, 2023: Defendants contact Court, asking that any Statement of Defence be deferred until after Certification Motion has been heard and determined.

June 3, 2024: Statement of Claim (Plaintiff Class) filed with the Court.

December 19th, 2024: Letter from Plaintiff’s lawyer about case management dates.

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.

That’s where things currently stand. No Statement of Defence has been filed. There’s no Motion to Strike (yet), though presumably one is coming. And the process for a Certification Motion hasn’t even been started.

“2024-10-07
Current Status: The Statement of Claim was filed on 25 September 2023. A Federal Court action with a similar fact pattern recently faced a Motion to Strike Application to amend the Statement of Claim. We await online production of the Amended Statement of Claim to better assess whether further refinements are required in our action. In the interim a Case Management Conference has been requested. Scheduling of same is pending.”

An October 2024 status update may shed some light on things. The current plan is apparently wait to see what happens in some similar case, and then further amend this suit. So… to just wait and see, and piggyback off of someone else. Shouldn’t clients be talking to that lawyer then?

The case is nearly a year and a half old, and there’s just the Statement of Claim. Could such a case be certified and advanced? Maybe, but it doesn’t seem very urgent.

(1) Burke T-2008-23 Statement Of Claim (September, 2023)
(2) Burke T-2008-23 Intent To Respond (October, 2023)
(3) Burke T-2008-23 Crinson Assigned (November, 2023)
(4) Burke T-2008-23 Crinson Order (December, 2023)
(5) Burke T-2008-23 Amended Statement Of Claim, Plaintiff Class (June, 2024)

December 4, 2024December 5, 2024

Citizens Alliance Of Nova Scotia (CANS) Mootness Motion To Be Heard Friday

On Friday, Citizens Alliance of Nova Scotia (CANS) will argue against a Motion to have their case declared “moot” in a Yarmouth Court. This isn’t a determination on the merits, but to get the it thrown out regardless. This comes after the organization was denied public interest standing earlier this year.

Interestingly, CANS is doing this without formal representation. Their papers are being drafted by a few of their members, which is quite impressive. At the hearing for public interest standing, William Ray — author of the Stormhaven website — presented their case. The other co-Applicant, J.M., is a minor who does have a lawyer.

The Attorney General’s office is claiming that it’s a waste of time and money, as so long has elapsed, and there are no live issues. The usual “scarcity of judicial resources” justification has been pleaded. Unsurprisingly, CANS opposes the Motion, in part because Robert Strang is still in office. Part of CANS’ mission is to ensure this type of activity never happens again. The Briefs are well worth reading.

To support their Motion, the Government included an Affidavit from Tara Walsh, Senior Executive Director at Public Health. CANS filed Affidavits sworn by Chris Milburn and Shelly Hipson, along with her extensive research. J.M. didn’t submit one, which the lawyer is using to demonstrate that there’s no live issue to try.

In its current form, the case is an Application for Judicial Review. In theory, even if declared “moot”, it may still be okay to refile as an Action, with a Statement of Claim. There is far more latitude with those kinds of proceedings, whereas Applications are more restrictive. That is, after all, what happened with the travel mandates cases — although the idiot lawyers appealed.

The Friday hearing is to be available virtually. Anyone wishing to watch the hearing can contact the Court, or CANS directly. Information is also in their pinned Tweet.

COURT DOCUMENTS (MOOTNESS MOTION):
(1) CANS Walsh Affidavit Mootness Motion
(2) CANS Milburn Affidavit Mootness Motion
(3) CANS Hipson Affidavit Mootness Motion
(4) CANS Hipson Affidavit Mootness Motion More Attachments
(5) CANS Government Arguments Mootness Motion
(6) CANS Applicants Arguments Mootness Motion
(7) CANS Government REPLY Arguments Mootness Motion

COURT DOCUMENTS (PUBLIC INTEREST STANDING):
(1) CANS Applicants Brief For Public Interest Standing Augst 25 2023
(2) CANS Applicants Book Of Authorities August 25 2023
(3) CANS Respondents’ Brief respecting Public Interest Standing Motion
(4) CANS Applicants Rebuttal Brief For Public Interest Standing Motion November 20 2023
(5) CANS Applicants Book Of Documents Volume 1 Of 2 December 11 2023
(6) CANS Applicants Book Of Documents Volume 2 Of 2 December 11 2023
(7) https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/2024/2024nssc253/2024nssc253.html

ABOUT THE GROUP:
(1) https://www.thecans.ca/
(2) https://www.thecans.ca/call-to-action-letters-of-support/
(3) Citizens Alliance Of Nova Scotia Quick Fact Sheet (pdf)

November 13, 2024April 7, 2025

Discontinued: Review Of Canadian National Railway Case, Dropped in 2023

It’s time to review a case that slipped under the radar in 2022 and 2023. This is the CNR, or Canadian National Railway case and their injection mandate (vaccine passport) lawsuit. Yes, it’s considered old, but the information here should be worth it.

To their credit, Rebel News did cover the initial filing, but there doesn’t seem to have been any follow up. Of course, there wasn’t much to report.

The criticism that’s coming may sound like another Galati case, but it’s not. Yes, the errors are virtually identical, so it’s easy to make that mistake.

The lawyer is Leighton Grey, of the firm Grey Wowk Spencer LLP.

For some of Grey’s other work, consider his “Posties” case. He represented employees and former employees of Canada Post. They were faced with job losses in 2021/2022 as a result of the injection mandates. Now, the company has a collective bargaining agreement, which mandates arbitration as opposed to litigation to resolve disputes.

Arbitration did in fact happen, with different counsel, but it went unfavourably towards the workers. Rather than filing for a review, Grey decided to sue Canada Post instead. Quite predictably, the case was thrown out on a Motion to Strike, as there was no jurisdiction for the Courts. There was also the problem that Grey didn’t plead his case properly, and it would have been struck anyway.

Grey had another lawsuit on behalf of Purolator workers, but the same problems arose. He didn’t have jurisdiction to file the case — as arbitration was mandatory — and it wasn’t pleaded properly. It was eventually dropped. That will be covered in the future.

These are at least 3 cases: (a) Canada Post; (b) Purolator; and (c) Canadian National Railway, where a lawsuit was filed by Grey when there was no jurisdiction. These suits were doomed from the start.

As for the O.G., or Original Gangsta “Mr. Bad Beyond Argument”, his work includes: (a) Adelberg; (b) Dorceus; (c) Katanik; and (d) several cases with the CPSO. The Court had jurisdiction over none of them.

It’s still amazing that lawyers always get paid, regardless of how completely, or how often, they screw up their cases. It’s the clients who lose out.

Hundreds of clients are out of luck because counsel failed to follow the Rules of Civil Procedure, and he didn’t follow basic employment law.

What Specific Errors Were Made With CNR Case?

Failure to plead necessary material facts
Failure to keep evidence out of the Claim
Failure to properly plead necessary particulars
Failure to properly plead Charter violations
Seeking Relief a CIVIL Court cannot grant
Failure to understand labour law and jurisdiction

Worth noting: #6 is fatal to the case. Because of the collective bargaining agreements, the Plaintiffs lack jurisdiction to sue. In theory, they could plead that they exhausted all avenues and that the employer wasn’t acting in good faith. A Judge might agree that this is the only available venue, but there are no gurantees.

In any event, lack of jurisdiction wasn’t the only serious problem.

1. Failure To Plead Necessary Material Facts

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.

By “material facts”, this means the lawyer has to plead specific information and background about everyone involved. The Statement of Claim is only 14 pages because it doesn’t plead any facts about anyone.

Their length of time with the company
Their role or position within the company
Their specific objection for refusing the injections (religious, health, conscience, etc…)
What discipline was taken, or if they quit
The specific steps they took to resolve it internally
Which union, if any, each Plaintiff belongs to
Who was working remotely, and who was physically present
Who applied for EI, who was denied, and what reason(s) given
What, if anything happened with regard to grievances and arbitration

These are just a few of the details that must be pleaded for each Plaintiff. It’s not optional. A properly written Claim would have been a few hundred pages. Especially with the question of jurisdiction, it must be listed in detail that these people were trying to follow the terms of their agreement, if they had one. Grey put NONE of this in the Claim.

Even if this were a Proposed Class Action (it wasn’t) the Representative Plaintiff(s) would still need to have adequate facts pleaded about their situation. Not a single person pleaded anything.

One of the more ridiculous statements from Grey is that some Plaintiffs are part of a Union — 4 are listed — but that others are not. No Plaintiffs are matched with any, nor are any of the grievance procedures outlined.

2. Failure To Keep Evidence Out Of The Claim

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.

The other part of Federal Court Rule 174 also applies. The Statement of Claim goes on at length about scientific declarations about health risks and treatment. Now, this may be appropriate expert evidence to give at a later date, but it doesn’t belong in the Claim itself. Does Grey not know this?

3. Failure To Properly Plead Necessary Particulars

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.

Rule 181 of the Federal Court Rules specifics “pleading particulars”. What this means is that actions based on misrepresentation, fraud, breach of trust, etc…. must be spelled out. Procedurally, Defendants cannot be left guessing what they have to respond to.

Grey openly accuses Government officials of conspiring to harm the Plaintiffs, but he doesn’t give any of the detail needed to even theoretically support such allegations.

4. Failure To Properly Plead Charter Violations

Grey’s lawsuit contains “cookie cutter” allegations of Charter violations, such as:

Section 2(a) – Freedom of Conscience
Section 7 – Security of the Person
Section 8 – Freedom from Unreasonable Search and Seizure
Section 15 – Equality

However, none of it is pleaded properly. To bring allegations that one’s rights have been violated, each Plaintiff must plead facts that would support these claims. As mentioned earlier, there’s no specific information provided about any of them. The Court would need to know the details of who said and did what. To do this correctly, the Statement of Claim would have been a few hundred pages.

5. Seeking Relief A CIVIL Court Cannot Grant

This is downright embarrassing. At paragraph 1(d) of the Amended Claim, Grey asks the Court for Declaratory Relief that Criminal Code violations have taken place. Yes, he asks a Civil Court to make findings of a criminal nature. That alone is enough to get the case struck.

For reference, Action4Canada and Adelberg were struck as “bad beyond argument”, in part, because they asked for remedies a Civil Court had no jurisdiction over. Grey does the same thing here.

6. Failure To Understand Labour Law And Jurisdiction

The case was dropped ultimately because the Defendants tried to bring a Motion to Strike. This Order from February, 2023 makes it clear what it was about. CNR knew full well that the Court had no jurisdiction, at least for many workers, so the obvious first step was to bring such a challenge.

Although Grey tried to argue a litany of torts, this case was essentially “constructive dismissal”. Since the terms and conditions of employment had been retroactively changed, it amounted to a repudiation of the contract by the employer. This is exactly the kind of issue that unions grieve over.

Most likely, Grey tried to dress it up to get around the lack jurisdiction.

Timeline Of Major Events In This Case

March 4th, 2022: Grey files the Statement of Claim against CNR and the Federal Government. Despite representing over 200 Plaintiffs, the entire document is just 14 pages long.

September 7th, 2022: case management is held to bring a Motion to Strike.

October 11th, 2022: Statement of Claim is amended.

October 28, 2022: first Notice of Discontinuance is filed. Several Plaintiffs want out.

February 1st, 2023: Statement of Claim is again amended.

February 7th, 2023: Order from the Court regarding how to proceed with the Motion to Strike the case.

May 8th, 2023: Most Plaintiffs discontinue.

May 17th, 2023: Grey files a Motion to remove himself as solicitor for the few remaining clients. This appears to be the most work he has actually performed in the case.

June 20th, 2023: Last client discontinues case.

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.

So, what actually happened in this case? The Statement of Claim was amended a few times, and there was some activity on a Motion to Strike. Then the suit was dropped without anything happening. None of the Plaintiffs ever got their day in Court. But their lawyer probably got his money.

(1) CNR T-553-22 Statement Of Claim (March 4, 2022)
(2) CNR T-553-22 Case Management September 7 2022
(3) CNR T-553-22 Amended Statement Of Claim (October 11, 2022)
(4) CNR T-553-22 Notice Of Discontinuance October 28, 2022
(5) CNR T-553-22 Amended Amended Statement Of Claim (February 1, 2023)
(6) CNR T-553-22 Order Regarding Motion To Strike February 7 2023
(7) CNR T-553-22 Notice Of Discontinuance May 8, 2023
(8) CNR T-553-22 Motion For Removal Of Solicitor (May 17, 2023)
(9) CNR T-553-22 Notice Of Discontinuance June 20, 2023

September 26, 2024September 26, 2024

Adam Skelly, Part 4: October Hearing To Be Postponed Into 2025

The long anticipated hearing of Adam Skelly challenging the Reopening Ontario Act (R.O.A.) has been delayed again, this time, until 2025. It was supposed to begin next week, and last for 3 days. See parts 1, 2 and 3 for background information.

The prime reason seems to be that one of the expert witnesses has withdrawn, leaving Skelly scrambling to find a replacement.

Justice Akazaki vacated the dates, while questioning whether or not the hearings could be squeezed into a single day, or 2.

ENDORSEMENT

[1] This is a request to adjourn and reschedule a three-day hearing of a constitutional challenge to a provincial offence arising from the alleged breach of the Ontario Covid-19 lockdown order.

[2] The OCJ has stayed the provincial offence trial. The applicant / accused has waived his s. 11(b) rights. Nevertheless, I am cognizant of the need to avoid further delay. The OCJ proceeding largely entails an agreed statement of fact.

[3] The adjournment was necessitated by the withdrawal of one of the applicant’s expert witnesses. There are also additional steps to be undertaken.

[4] The main impediment to scheduling the return date was the dispute over the length of the hearing. The applicant maintained the case requires three days. The respondents both stated the hearing can be completed in one day.

[5] There is an advantage to having the duration of the hearing settled by a case conference judge, once counsel have organized the completion of the next steps. If the hearing can take place during one day or two instead of three, the hearing can be scheduled earlier and without taking up unnecessary hearing dates.

[6] Therefore, I hereby order:
1. The October 1, 2, and 7, 2024, hearing dates are hereby vacated.
2. The parties shall request a case conference at the earliest opportunity, once the next steps have been agreed, to reschedule the hearing

Why does all of this still matter? For starters, the R.O.A. is still on the books, even if there are no orders in effect from it. This means that in theory, a new “crisis” could lead to future dictates.

COURT DECISIONS:
(1) Skelly – Restraining Order Deferred Matter
(2) Skelly – Restraining Order Decision, December 2020
(3) Skelly – Criminal Court Limits What He Can Post Online
(4) Skelly – Judge Lacks Jurisdiction To Hear Case, June 2021
(5) Skelly – Costs Of $15,000 Ordered For Failed Motion
(6) Skelly – Costs From 2020 Kimmel Decision, Previously Deferred
(7) Skelly – Motion For Security For Costs Decision, September 2023

2020/2021 COURT DOCUMENTS:
(1) Skelly – Application Record Restraining Order (Michael Swinwood)
(2) Skelly – Notice of Constitutional Question (February)
(3) Skelly – Amended Notice Of Constitutional Question (June)
(4) Skelly – Book of Transcripts – Respondents (Applicants)
(5) Skelly – Book of Transcripts – Respondent on Motion – HMTQ
(6) Skelly – 2021 Motion Factum
(7) Skelly – 2021 Motion Amended Factum – Respondents (Applicants)
(8) Skelly – 2021 Motion Responding Factum
(9) Skelly – 2021 Motion Reply Factum