Court approves class-action lawsuit against Canada Post alleging illegal 'drip pricing' on shipping
While deciding whether Deane's lawsuit should be a class-action suit, Justice Jocelyne Gagné was shown screen shots and videos of the Canada Post online purchase process and parsed the experience.
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Deane showed the Snap Ship service in action. The video showed that after logging into her account and entering shipping information and destination, Canada Post displays four shipping options with prices, from regular parcel shipping to priority shipping. None of the quoted prices include a fuel surcharge.
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Canada Post said that the onscreen box Deane showed was only part of a single, longer page of four successive stages where surcharges are shown in a separate summary box.
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The judge found neither of their descriptions to be adequately accurate, noting that each successive box must be closed for the next to open and by the time the destination information is entered in a box, triggering a fuel surcharge being listed in the summary box, that summary is no longer visible onscreen. A user must scroll up to see it.
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When the last box is filled out and closed, the page still doesn't return to the summary page, the judge noted.
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That stationary summary box was a change to the site made in July 2023, court heard. Before that, the summary box was dynamic, meaning it moved along with the cascading order process and was always visible.
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The mechanics of the three online shipping tools are basically the same, but some have additional business options.
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Ship Online is a service anyone can use to create paid shipping labels. Snap Ship is designed for small businesses doing regular low-volume shipping. Shipping Manager is designed for large volume commercial clients.
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The Competition Act bans several sales tricks that are considered false or misleading representations in transactions.
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'Drip pricing' is when a price is presented that is never attainable because obligatory charges are automatically added later in the purchase process (unless the fee is government mandated, such as a sales tax).
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'Double ticketing' is when a product costs more than the lowest of two or more advertised prices, such as the same items having different price tags offered for sale at the same time.
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For a claim to be certified as a class action, a court must rule that there is a reasonable cause of action, meaning a sound legal basis for complaining, and there must also be an identifiable group of people suffering the same alleged loss, among other considerations.
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The damages claimed by Deane is the cost of the fuel surcharge in all transactions in the time frame, plus the cost of investigating and launching her lawsuit.
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If Deane is successful, Canada Post could be forced to reimburse the fuel surcharges.
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Certifying a suit as a class action does not assess the merits of it, only that it can appropriately move forward as a court action.
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The parties and the judge looked carefully through previous class action competition-related complaints: one against Airbnb over service fees, one against Cineplex over buying online movie tickets, and the third against internet phone service provider Ooma.
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National Observer
18 hours ago
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A quick history of B.C.'s Red Chris mine
The eyes of many are on a northern British Columbia gold and copper mine as rescue efforts are underway to free three contractors trapped underground. This is not the first time the Red Chris mine has been in the spotlight. In its decades-long history, the property 80 km south of Dease Lake, B.C., has been the focus of a hostile takeover, a Supreme Court of Canada decision, a months-long blockade, and a more recent provincial plan to combat U.S. tariffs. Here's a look at the mine's background: Acquisition and Supreme Court of Canada case In 2003, Red Chris was under the control of bcMetals Corp., but it would eventually be taken over by Imperial Metals in April 2007 at a cost of $68.6 million The mine was the focus of a landmark decision in the Supreme Court of Canada in 2010. The top court ruled that the mine could go ahead, but said that the federal government needed to do more to ensure its environmental assessment laws are followed. Story continues below advertisement 2:17 Three miners trapped underground in northern B.C. At the time, the government had decided that it only needed to evaluate a proposed tailings pond at the site, without considering the rest of the project. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Justice Marshall Rothstein ruled that the government is obligated under the Environmental Assessment Act to consider proposed mining projects in their entirety. The ruling did not stop the mine because the court said the non-profit organization that brought forward the case, did not have a direct financial interest and it didn't challenge the project's approval — only the way it was carried out. Protests and production In 2014, protesters from the Tahltan First Nation held a months-long blockade at the mine site in response to the catastrophic collapse of a tailings pond at Imperial Metals' Mount Polley Mine in August that year. Story continues below advertisement The First Nation later instigated an environmental review of the mine, and then signed on to co-manage the mine with Imperial Metals. The mine's operator said in a letter earlier this year that Red Chris has 220 Tahltan employees and spends more than $100 million annually with the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation. 1:04 Miners trapped underground at B.C. copper and gold mine The required permits were in place by 2015. Then-mines minister Bill Bennett said he was confident the mine wouldn't experience a similar breach to the Mount Polley mine because the Red Chris tailings storage facility has undergone three independent reviews. A post from Imperial says 2020 production at Red Chris was 88.3 million pounds copper and 73,787 ounces gold. Expansion and tariff fight The mine is currently undergoing an expansion project involving a transition from open-pit to a block-cave mining method. Story continues below advertisement Imperial and Newcrest Mining Ltd. formed a joint venture for the operation of the mine in 2019, with Newcrest acting as operator. Imperial retains a 30 per cent interest. The company said the new deal would 'leverage Newcrest's unique technical expertise in block-caving operations.' Newcrest was acquired by the mine's current operator, Newmont Corporation, in 2023. In response to U.S. tariffs, the B.C. government announced earlier this year that the mine's expansion would be among 18 mining and energy projects that would be fast-tracked through some type of permit or approval from the province. Premier David Eby said the goal was to diversify the economy, assuming there would be 'four years of continual on-and-off tariff threats' from the United States under President Donald Trump. A letter from Newmont's general manager at Red Chris to the Tahltan Nation in February says the provincial decision to prioritize the block-cave project does not change Newmont's approach. 'We fully respect the Tahltan consent decision, and we are committed to building a strong partnership with Tahltan Nation based on trust, transparency, mutual benefit, and a shared vision for the future that respects Tahltan values and a Tahltan way of life,' it says.
