Court allows negligence class-action suit against Ontario LTC minister to proceed
CTV
Ontario's Court of Appeal is allowing a class-action lawsuit to proceed against the minister of long-term care for alleged negligence regarding the government's response to COVID-19.
Ontario's Court of Appeal is allowing a class-action lawsuit to proceed against the minister of long-term care for alleged negligence regarding the government's response to COVID-19.
The four lead plaintiffs lost their parents to COVID-19 or related complications in 2020 and allege that while the province knew by the end of January of that year that residents of long-term care homes were particularly vulnerable to the virus, the government didn't enact protections until it was too late.
They allege, in claims that have not been proven in court, that thousands of deaths and illnesses could have been prevented if the government had acted sooner.
A Superior Court judge certified the class action against the minister of long-term care but didn't allow it to proceed on several other grounds.
The government appealed that certification and the plaintiffs also appealed the decision not to certify a class action on the other grounds, including against the minister of health and chief medical officer of health.
In a decision released Tuesday, the Appeal Court upheld the Superior Court's decision.
The mandate of the Ministry of Long-Term Care is arguably distinguishable from that of the Ministry of Health and the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Appeal Court wrote in its decision.
