B.C. judge won't certify class lawsuit action against Dr. Bonnie Henry

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has refused to certify a proposed class-action lawsuit against Dr. Bonnie Henry for COVID-19-era restrictions, ruling it an abuse of process.

Justice David Crerar concluded that the proposed class action, which alleged breaches of four sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is “almost certainly the largest and most complex in Canadian legal history” and he found it “suffers from so many self-inflicted problems.”

But he said the failed attempt at certification isn’t a judgment on the merits of the lawsuit.

“It is not the role of the court at this stage to decide whether the plaintiff’s claim is valid or not, let alone decide whether the actions of the province or the health officer were good, bad or otherwise,” he wrote in a 433-paragraph decision.

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