This case was heard in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

A group of plaintiffs from Sydney, Nova Scotia initiated legal proceedings against Ispat Sidbec Inc. (Ispat), Hawker Siddeley Canada Inc. (Hawker), Domtar Inc. (Domtar), the Province of Nova Scotia, the Canadian National Railway Company, and the federal Crown, in a complex case that alleged property contamination, environmental hazards, and health concerns resulting from the operation of coke ovens, a steel plant, and related industrial facilities in Sydney.

Over the course of several legal proceedings, the plaintiffs restructured their case until it took on its final shape as a class action claim against Sydney Steel Corporation, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the federal Crown. The plaintiffs applied for class action certification, and in order to grant them that certification the Court had to determine whether the plaintiffs met the requirements listed in Nova Scotia’s Class Proceedings Act.

After the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia decided that the plaintiffs had met the requirements, the defendants appealed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. There, the Court allowed the defendants’ appeal and decertified the class action.

Afterwards, the plaintiffs filed a motion that asked the Court of Appeal to reconsider its decision, taking into account recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada that were favourable to their position. After considering the relevant law and legal principles, the Court held that the plaintiffs’ motion would not proceed to a hearing, as the circumstances did not warrant such an unusual and extraordinary step.

To read related decisions by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, go to Canada (Attorney General) v. MacQueen, 2013 NSCA 143 (CanLII), Canada (Attorney General) v. MacQueen, 2014 NSCA 96 (CanLII), Sydney Steel Corporation v. MacQueen, 2013 NSCA 5 (CanLII), and Sydney Steel Corporation v. MacQueen, 2012 NSCA 78 (CanLII).

To read about further appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada, go to Neila Catherine MacQueen, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, et al., 2015 CanLII 17890 (SCC) and Neila Catherine MacQueen, et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, et al., 2015 CanLII 1219 (SCC).

To read about this case in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, go to MacQueen v. Sydney Steel Corporation, 2011 NSSC 484 (CanLII),  MacQueen v. Sydney Steel Corporation, 2012 NSSC 461 (CanLII), and MacQueen v. Sydney Steel Corporation, 2013 NSSC 442 (CanLII).

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nsca/doc/2014/2014nsca73/2014nsca73.html?autocompleteStr=MacQueen%20v%20Canada&autocompletePos=3

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