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Calgary Herald

Lawyer seeks to add Alberta corporations to list of plaintiffs in COVID-related class-action lawsuit

Alberta corporations negatively impacted by unlawful provincial COVID-19 measures should be added to the class of plaintiffs suing the government over business losses, a lawyer argued Wednesday. Article content Jeffrey Rath said there is likely a large group of corporations impacted by the measures who should be entitled to join a class-action lawsuit proceeding on behalf of individual business owners who lost money due to government actions. Article content Article content Article content Rath said concerns raised by Justice Colin Feasby and Alberta Justice lawyer John-Marc Dube that major corporations would join the fray are unfounded. Article content Article content He said adding corporations to the lawsuit, which Feasby certified as a class-action case last fall, would allow smaller mom-and-pop companies to be represented before the court. Article content 'Just because there are multi-billion-dollar corporations in Alberta should not mean that these smaller corporations should be precluded,' Rath said. Article content While major corporations have the resources to proceed with their own litigation, the vast majority of Alberta companies would be small operations, he argued. Article content 'There are lots of mom-and-pops running their own corporations.' Article content Rath, who currently represents a class certified by Feasby of Alberta business owners impacted by the measures introduced at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, said many smaller incorporated operations are in the same boat. Article content Article content 'They're still suffering from these orders. They're still suffering from a massive debt burden,' the lawyer said. Article content But Dube said the group would not be limited to just small corporations. Article content 'The proposed class of all corporations in Alberta run the whole gamut,' he said. Article content Last Oct. 30, the Calgary Court of King's Bench judge ruled the class action could proceed on behalf of individual business owners who may have suffered losses due to unauthorized restrictions imposed by the Jason Kenney government. Article content Feasby said the case can proceed on six common issues impacting all business owners affected by measures imposed by provincial cabinet and issued in the name of Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw. Article content In 2023, Justice Barb Romaine ruled the measures ordered were unlawfully imposed under the Public Health Act because the decisions to issue the CMOH orders were made by cabinet and not Hinshaw. Article content