Connie Vernon

The plaintiff sought court approval of a $12 million settlement in a class action alleging systemic negligence and breach of fiduciary duty by the provincial government resulting in physical and sexual abuse at the Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI).

Despite objections from some class members regarding the lack of a direct apology and the adequacy of compensation, the court approved the settlement, finding it fell within the zone of reasonableness established in similar institutional abuse class actions.

The court also approved class counsel's legal fees of $2.75 million and honoraria for the representative plaintiffs.

The applicant sought sanctions for civil contempt against the respondent church and its pastors for repeatedly breaching a restraining order that enforced COVID-19 public health gathering limits.

The court found the respondents in contempt for holding large indoor religious services in defiance of the order.

Applying the factors for civil contempt sentencing, the court imposed fines of $35,000 on the church, $10,000 on the lead pastor, and $3,000 on the assistant pastor.

The court also ordered the church doors to be locked until gathering limits were eased to permit 30 percent capacity, and awarded $69,000 in partial indemnity costs to the applicant.

The appellant appealed from orders of the Superior Court striking her claims against Crown Defendants and dismissing them without leave to amend, and striking her claims against Ms. Santone with leave to amend to pursue only a breach of privacy claim.

The appellant's pleading alleged damages of $8.4 million arising from treatment by various state officials spanning from 1970 to 2011, including claims for conspiracy, misfeasance in public office, breach of trust, intentional infliction of mental distress, and various statutory violations.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's findings that the pleading disclosed no reasonable cause of action, lacked material facts to support the allegations, and that the Crown Defendants were protected by statutory and common law immunity.

The court also rejected the appellant's allegation of judicial bias.

The plaintiff brought a motion to certify a class action against the provincial Crown regarding alleged institutional abuse at the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI) between 1963 and 2011.

The defendant consented to the certification.

The court reviewed the requirements under section 5(1) of the Class Proceedings Act and found them satisfied, noting the commonality of issues and the vulnerability of the proposed class.

The action was certified on consent.

Following a decision on the merits, the court requested written submissions on costs.

The defendants submitted bills of costs, but the self-represented plaintiff failed to respond within the allotted time.

The court reviewed the bills of costs, found them reasonable given the complexity of the matter and the number of parties, and awarded costs to the Crown and the police defendants on a partial indemnity basis.

The Crown brought a motion under Rules 21 and 25 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to strike and dismiss claims brought against it in tort and for alleged Charter breaches.

The court held that the tort claims were a nullity because the plaintiff failed to comply with the notice requirements under the Proceedings Against the Crown Act.

With respect to the Charter claims, the statement of claim failed to plead a concise statement of material facts capable of supporting a viable cause of action or damages claim.

The court found the allegations largely constituted a collateral attack on judicial decisions made during the plaintiff’s bail proceedings.

All claims against the Crown were dismissed.