Court of Appeal

Judge:

The Honourable Justice David P.S. Farrar

Heard :

By Written Submissions Dated as Follows:

          Canada                January 17, 2014

          Nova Scotia                   January 17, 2014

          Respondents        February 7, 2014

Subject:

Class Actions.  Costs on Certification Motion. Costs on Appeal of Certification Motion.  Costs of an Intended Motion for Reconsideration. Class Actions Act, S.N.S. 2007, c. 28, s. 20.

Summary:

This decision arises out of three proceedings:  an original certification motion; the appeal of the original certification motion decision; and, an Intended Motion for Reconsideration of the appeal decision. 

By way of background, the representative respondents were successful in having a class action certified:  Canada and Nova Scotia appealed that decision. The appeal was allowed and the class action decertified.

The representative respondents then sought to have this Court re-open and reconsider its original decision taking into consideration recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions.  The Intended Motion for Reconsideration was dismissed. 

Issues:

What are the appropriate amounts of costs and disbursements to be awarded to Canada and Nova Scotia in all three proceedings?

Result:

Canada and Nova Scotia were both awarded costs of the certification motion on a partial indemnity basis.  Both the costs and disbursements, which would otherwise have been awarded, were discounted to take into access to justice and public interest factors.  Canada and Nova Scotia were also entitled to their costs on appeal and on the Intended Motion for Rehearing.