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Class Action in Ontario

May 17, 2005 permalink

The following text from the website of law-firm Roy Elliott Kim O'Connor describes a step in the lawsuit by Anne Larcade:

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Special Kids Class Action

On May 13, 2005, the Ontario Divisional Court released its decision in the appeal of Larcade v. Ontario and certified the lawsuit as a class proceeding.

This lawsuit, launched on May 8, 2001, seeks damages of $500 million for all families who have suffered because the Ontario Government failed to meet its legal obligation to provide services for severely disabled children. These services were to have been provided under Special Needs Agreements issued by the Ministry of Community and Social Services, or through local Children's Aid Societies.

Sometime in 1997, the Ontario Government unilaterally stopped issuing Special Needs Agreements and forced an unknown number of families to surrender custody of their special needs children in order to access life-saving services.

In June 2003, Justice Cullity of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, dismissed the application for certification of this class action. The Representative Plaintiff's appeal from Justice Cullity's decision was heard by the Ontario Divisional Court on March 29 and 30, 2005. On May 13, 2005, the Divisional Court overturned Justice Cullity's decision and certified the lawsuit as a class proceeding.

Further updates will be provided.

For further information on this class action, please e-mail your enquiries to info@reko.ca, or contact our offices at (416) 362-1989.

Douglas Elliott, President of the International Lesbian and Gay Law Association, was the lawyer representing the Metropolitan Community Church of Ontario in the court case that legalized same-sex marriage in Ontario. This kind of lawsuit is a way to get law enacted directly by the courts, bypassing the legislature. The Larcade suit may be in the same category. If successful, it will open a large additional source of funding for a group of disabled children. Who can administer this money other than the Ministry for Children and Youth Services through its subsidiaries, the Children's Aid Societies? Mr Elliott is seeking to increase their power at the expense of families.

sequential