MacQueen v. Sydney Steel Corporation, 2011 NSSC 484 (CanLII)
This case was heard in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.
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 consider several requirements under Nova Scotia’s Class Proceedings Act, including:
(1) whether “the pleadings disclose or the notice of application discloses a cause of action”;
(2) whether “there is an identifiable class of two or more persons that would be represented by a representative party”;
(3) whether “the claims of the members raise a common issue, whether or not the common issue predominates over issues affecting only individual members”;
(4) whether “a class proceeding would be the preferable procedure for the fair and efficient resolution of the dispute”; and
(5) whether “there is a representative party who (i) would fairly and adequately represent the interests of the class, and (ii) has produced a plan for the class proceeding that sets out a workable method of advancing the class proceeding on behalf of the class and of notifying class members of the class proceeding, and (iii) does not have, with respect to the common issues, an interest that is in conflict with the interests of other class members.”
After considering each of these requirements, the Court held that the plaintiffs had fulfilled all of them (subject to minor additions and revisions), and it granted the class action certification.
To read related decisions by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, go to MacQueen v. Sydney Steel Corporation, 2012 NSSC 461 (CanLII) and MacQueen v. Sydney Steel Corporation, 2013 NSSC 442 (CanLII).
To read about this case in 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), MacQueen v. Canada (Attorney General), 2014 NSCA 73 (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).
View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nssc/doc/2011/2011nssc484/2011nssc484.html
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