Glen Jermyn

The plaintiff, an Indigenous individual, brought a motion to certify a class action against the RCMP for systemic negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breaches of sections 7 and 15 of the Charter.

The proposed class includes all Aboriginal persons who allege they were assaulted while being held in custody or detained by RCMP officers in the Territories.

The Federal Court granted the motion for certification conditionally, finding that the pleadings disclosed a reasonable cause of action and that the other certification criteria were met, subject to the substitution of the representative plaintiff.

The applicant, who successfully challenged a First Nation's decision to postpone its election and the validity of federal regulations allowing such postponement, sought costs from the First Nation and the Attorney General on a solicitor-client basis or an elevated scale.

The respondents argued for no costs due to divided success or requested that only the Attorney General bear the costs.

The Federal Court rejected the arguments for divided success and solicitor-client costs but awarded elevated costs in a lump sum, finding the challenge to the regulations raised important issues of public interest affecting First Nations nationwide.

The Court ordered the Attorney General to pay $20,000 and the First Nation to pay $10,000 to the applicant, and dismissed the First Nation's claim for costs against the Attorney General.