A Calgary judge has certified a class action lawsuit for Alberta business owners seeking compensation for losses suffered due to pandemic-related public health restrictions.Chris Scott, owner of the Whistle Stop Cafe, speaks during a rally against COVID-19 measures in 2021. The eatery was shut down by AHS for not complying with pandemic rules. Now, Scott is the representative plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Alberta government.
The act gives the chief medical officer of health the power to make public health orders. But during the pandemic, instead of Dr. Deena Hinshaw making the orders, politicians did, acting without legal authority. "This is a huge day for Alberta businesses that were illegally harmed by Jason Kenny and Deena Hinshaw," said Rath in a written statement.
During the pandemic, representative plaintiff Chris Scott faced several charges, accused of breaching the Public Health Act when his restaurant, the Whistle Stop Cafe in Mirror, Alta., remained open despite restrictions banning large gatherings and in-person dining in January 2021.Feasby described Scott as "atypical of the proposed class because for much of the time in question, he refused to abide by the CMOH orders.
But, he said, those concerns can be managed by limiting the scope of the issues that the lawsuit can proceed on.Those issues include whether Alberta acted in bad faith in making the CMOH orders and whether the Alberta Bill of Rights was breached by the unlawful orders.