The defendant in a proposed class action moved under s. 29.1 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 to dismiss the action for delay, on the basis that the plaintiff failed to file a final and complete certification motion record within one year of commencing the action.
The plaintiff filed a certification record three days after the one-year deadline and, in any event, the record was incomplete as it contained no litigation plan — an indispensable requirement under s. 5(1)(e)(ii) of the CPA.
The plaintiff also moved to amend the Statement of Claim and substitute two new representative plaintiffs, but both proposed plaintiffs demonstrated no meaningful understanding of or engagement with the litigation plan requirement, effectively leaving counsel to litigate on his own.
The Court of Appeal had definitively eliminated any judicial discretion to relieve parties of the strict requirements of s. 29.1.
The motion to dismiss was granted; the motion to amend and substitute was denied.
