Matthew Sullivan

The plaintiff brought a class action on behalf of Canadian cattle farmers against the Government of Canada, alleging negligence in its response to the threat of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as 'mad cow disease'.

The plaintiff claimed that Canada failed to implement a ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban in a timely manner and failed to prevent cattle imported from the United Kingdom from entering the animal feed chain, which led to the discovery of a BSE-infected Canadian cow in May 2003 and the subsequent closure of international borders to Canadian cattle and beef.

The court dismissed the action, finding that the claim was barred by section 9 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act because the class members had received compensation through various government financial assistance programs.

Furthermore, the court held that Canada did not owe a private law duty of care to the cattle farmers and that its policy decisions regarding the monitoring of imported cattle and the timing of the feed ban were reasonable and did not breach the standard of care.

The Attorney General of Canada and the Joint Committee representing Class Members brought competing applications regarding the allocation of approximately $236 million in excess capital held in the trust fund established by the 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement.

Canada argued the excess capital should be returned to it, while the Joint Committee sought to allocate the funds to increase benefits for Class Members.

The court dismissed Canada's application, finding that the excess capital allocation provision was intended to provide an opportunity to bridge compensatory gaps for Class Members.

The court approved seven of the Joint Committee's nine recommendations for allocating the funds, including increases to fixed payments and loss of services compensation, to be implemented by way of special distribution.

The defendants brought a motion to set aside a noting in default after failing to deliver a defence within the time required under the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The self‑represented plaintiffs initially opposed the motion and brought a cross‑motion seeking to remove defence counsel from the record but abandoned their opposition during argument.

The court found the defendants had a reasonable explanation for the delay, had consistently indicated an intention to defend, and had an arguable defence on the merits.

The default was set aside and the defendants were granted leave to deliver a statement of defence within ten days.

The plaintiffs’ motion to remove counsel was dismissed and costs of $1,500 plus HST were awarded to the defendants due to inappropriate allegations made in the plaintiffs’ materials.

The applicant, a federal inmate, applied for a writ of habeas corpus and Charter relief to challenge his security classification, his correctional plan requiring sex offender programming, and the anticipated denial of his statutory release.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the application, holding that habeas corpus is not available to review a refusal to transfer to a lower security facility or to challenge a correctional plan.

The court further held that absent a valid habeas corpus claim, it lacked jurisdiction to grant Charter remedies regarding the administration of the sentence, as exclusive jurisdiction rests with the Federal Court.

The challenge to the anticipated denial of statutory release was also dismissed as premature.