Sarah-Dawn Norris

The moving parties brought a motion for leave to appeal the order of Justice Robert Smith dated July 7, 2021.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and awarded costs to the responding parties fixed at $10,000 all inclusive.

The applicant, a non-status Indigenous child living off-reserve, sought judicial review of a decision by the Jordan's Principle Appeals Committee denying his request for funding for medical and educational services.

The Committee had denied the request because the applicant did not meet the eligibility criteria under the Standard Operating Procedures, as he was not a registered Indian, not eligible to be registered, and not ordinarily resident on reserve.

The Federal Court dismissed the application for judicial review, finding that the Committee did not breach procedural fairness and its decision was reasonable.

The Court also held that the Eligibility Policy itself, which was developed in consultation with stakeholders, was a reasonable exercise of executive policy discretion.

The plaintiffs, current or former inmates of a federal penitentiary, sought to certify a class action alleging poor quality of cable television services for which they paid.

They claimed negligence and breach of constructive trust against the Crown.

The Federal Court denied the motion for certification, holding that the pleadings failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action and that the inmate grievance process was the preferable procedure for resolving the complaints.

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.