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
Legalese originated from. Satan. We are in his ‘Little Season’ far as I can see.
Prefacing with this, it stands to reason that NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE….keep up the diligent work, Ronnie.
I no longer support this regime.