The infant plaintiff suffered a severe brain injury at birth in 2001.
The plaintiffs brought a timely action against several health practitioners.
In 2009, the plaintiffs' medical expert advised counsel of concerns regarding the infant's postnatal care, prompting a motion to add new defendants.
The motion judge dismissed the motion, finding the claims were not discoverable before January 1, 2004, and were therefore statute-barred under the new Limitations Act, 2002.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the claims were discoverable before January 1, 2004, because a reasonable person acting as litigation guardian would have retained competent counsel to review the hospital records obtained in 2002.
Consequently, the former limitation period applied, which suspended the limitation period for minors, meaning the proposed claims were not statute-barred.
