Court File and Parties

COURT FILE NO.: CV-19-00617136-00CP DATE: 20230817 SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO

RE: Daniel Relvas, Plaintiff - AND - Auxly Cannabis Group Inc., Defendant

BEFORE: E.M. Morgan J.

COUNSEL: Andrew Morganti and Albert Pelletier, for the Plaintiff Lara Jackson, for the Defendant

HEARD: August 17, 2023

SETTLEMENT FIRST NOTICE APPROVAL

[1] Following mediation and what class counsel describe as “extensive, arm’s length negotiations”, the Plaintiff and the Defendant have reached a proposed settlement of this certified class action. Accordingly, the Plaintiff brings this motion for, inter alia, approval of the time frame set for notification of class members, for approval of the proposed Notice to class members, and for an order appointing class counsel to manage the escrow account in accordance with the settlement agreement.

[2] The Settlement Agreement provides that the First Notice will be published and disseminated to Class Members at least 60 days before the settlement approval hearing. The Plaintiff and Defendant have both approved the form and content of the proposed First Notice.

[3] The Plan of Notice provides that the First Notice will be published as follows:

(a) Class Counsel shall disseminate a press release through Canadian Newswire in English and French in a form acceptable to counsel for Auxly, advising of the proposed settlement, the date, time and place of the hearing to approve the settlement, and the right of any class member to object to the settlement and the procedure for doing so;

(b) Class Counsel shall disseminate a German translation of the press release through a German business newswire service;

(c) Class Counsel shall send the English press release to the online forums Stockhouse.ca and CEO.ca for posting to any Auxly-related boards or chat rooms;

(d) Class Counsel shall post a copy of the English press release to the “Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. Investors Group” on Facebook;

(e) Class Counsel shall send the English and French press releases by email to anyone who registered with Class Counsel to receive updates on the status of the class action, to the extent that Class Counsel has their email address information;

(f) Class Counsel shall post the First Notice in English and French on its website at https://bergermontague.ca/cases/auxly-cannabis-group-inc/; and

(g) Class Counsel shall enable its website for multilingual Google translation.

[4] In addition, Class Counsel advises that it has a telephone number and email address available to the public that will enable Class Members to contact them with questions and concerns.

[5] The First Notice advises Class Members of:

(a) the existence of the Settlement Agreement, its salient terms, and the date for the Settlement approval hearing,

(b) their right to attend the settlement approval hearing,

(d) their right to object to the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the method for doing so; and

(e) their right to object to class counsel’s proposed fee request. All of this is appropriate for a Notice in the context of the proposed certification and in anticipation of the Settlement approval hearing.

[6] Class Counsel proposes that it be appointed to receive and report on objections. I note that Class Counsel has done so before for other settlements and the mechanism has proven to be efficient and cost-effective for Class Members. In my view, Class Counsel will be able to efficiently, economically and reliably cause the First Notice to be published in accordance with the Plan of Notice.

[7] Class Counsel further advises that on a subsequent motion for Court approval of the Settlement Agreement, it will seek to have itself appointed as the Administrator for the Class (for the processing of Claim Forms). Again, Class Counsel has done this before for other securities class action settlements, and it has proven efficient and cost effective.

[8] The final date for Class Members to object to the proposed settlement will be October 20, 2023.

[9] The proposed Plan of Notice for the purposes of disseminating the First Notice, as well as the content of the First Notice, is hereby approved.

[10] A hearing for approval of the Settlement Agreement will take place on November 14, 2023, via Zoom. A link for logging into the hearing will be made available on Class Counsel’s web page for this action.

[11] There will be an Order to go in the form submitted by Class Counsel.

Morgan J. Date: August 17, 2023