Judge certifies class-action lawsuit over COVID-19 deaths at Maples care home in Winnipeg
CBC
A class-action lawsuit naming the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the former operator of a long-term care home that was the site of Manitoba's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak is going ahead.
Court of King's Bench Associate Chief Justice Shane Perlmutter has certified the lawsuit launched by children of Ethel Lewsey, 99, and Manuel Calisto, 88, two of 56 residents whose deaths were linked to an outbreak at the Maples Long Term Care Home that was declared on Oct. 20, 2020, and lasted until Jan. 12, 2021.
The class includes anyone who contracted COVID-19 as a Maples resident during the outbreak, as well as the estate of those who died then as well as their family members as defined under the Fatal Accidents Act.
"There is some basis in fact for the determination of the alleged breaches as common issues," Perlmutter said in a Feb. 2 decision certifying the class action.
"It is uncontested that Maples had the highest attack rate (78.5 per cent) and percentage of deaths (23.5 per cent) of the 10 personal care homes in the category of large personal care homes in Winnipeg," he wrote.
During the nearly three-month-long Maples outbreak, 157 residents living in the 200-bed facility tested positive for the virus, according to a report commissioned by Manitoba Health. As well, 74 staff working at the home tested positive during the outbreak.
The outbreak prompted an external review that made 17 recommendations for the care home, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and for Manitoba's health incident command structure and health department.
The representative plaintiffs for the class action, Eddie Calisto-Tavares and Lawrence Lewsey, allege Revera, the for-profit operator then in charge of the care home, was negligent and did not adequately plan for or respond to the outbreak.
They claimed the Winnipeg health authority failed to immediately address staffing shortages in the care home, among other issues.
Calisto-Tavares received special permission to enter Maples during the COVID-19 lockdown and care for her father, Manuel Calisto, on what were his last days alive after contracting the virus.
The certification of the class action lawsuit brings a moment of joy for Calisto-Tavares, who wants the court process to bring awareness of what residents experienced at the long-term care home during the outbreak.
"We cannot forget what happened. Those residents, regardless of age and regardless of where they were in their life cycle, they mattered," she told CBC on Saturday.
She is hopeful recounting her father's experience and those of other class action members will act as a reminder of lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, and she hopes that higher standards of care will follow the suit.
"I'm now a senior. I'm 67 years old and I have no idea what the future holds. But while I have a voice ... I will continue to fight for this," she said.
The billionaire U.S. owners of the busiest land border crossing in North America turned to a high-powered lobbying firm run by former top aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in recent years, records show.
Students across the province are protesting recent changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) — the post-secondary financial aid system will go from a majority grant structure to a majority loan structure in the new school year.
A program at the University of Prince Edward Island that trains future French teachers once struggled to find students, but it's now seeing more interest than ever.
All school purpose vehicles outside of London, Ont. are cancelled Wednesday morning due to a thick blanket of fog causing poor visibility on the roads.
Gas prices in the Greater Toronto Area jumped six cents on Wednesday, with experts warning more increases are expected in the days ahead due to the U.S. and Israel-Iran war.
Albertans listening to the U.S. president’s state of the union address last week may have experienced a sense of deja vu when it came to Donald Trump’s plans for AI data centres: “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs.”
A prominent labour organization in Newfoundland and Labrador that was pushing hard for topsides construction contracts on the Bay du Nord production vessel says a plan to invest in a massive floating dry dock will more than offset the loss of any work on the topsides.
Some Iranians in Sudbury, Ont., say they are ecstatic about recent attacks from the United States and Israel against Iran.
A Nova Scotia family is speaking out after two masked intruders entered a Halifax-area high school and violently attacked a Grade 9 student, prompting concerns about school safety and security.
Keith Hoyt’s cows used to be the neighbourhood celebrities.
It is a bluebird morning at Mont Tremblant ski resort, with the white peaks reaching into a clear sky.
The man responsible for the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash could be deported to India within weeks, leaving behind his wife and two children, who are pleading with Canada to let him stay.
Delays and closures, including the cancellation of several families of schools, are in effect across parts of P.E.I. Wednesday morning after an overnight snowfall on the Island.