The Court of King’s Bench of Alberta on Wednesday released its decision to allow a class action on behalf of local businesses from the COVID-19 era to proceed.

King’s Bench Justice Colin C.J. Feasby ruled Alberta business owners adversely affected by COVID-19 restrictions and closures imposed through Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health (CMOH) at the time, had grounds to pursue the lawsuit, and certified the class action in Ingram v Alberta, 2024.

Lawyer Jeffrey Rath of Rath & Company, the law firm representing the businesses, earlier told the Western Standard the class action would expose where Albertan officials’ “priorities were” during the pandemic — “making sure the bureaucrats are okay, not making sure Albertans are okay,”

Because the COVID-19 mandate orders were ultra vires, meaning not under the Public Health Act and therefore unlawful, “the government has huge liability,” said Rath, adding that if officials had issued them under the act, “that would have been perfectly legal.”

The court in its certification of the class action, led by Rebecca Ingram and Christopher Scott, “certified multiple claims, including negligence, bad faith and misfeasance in public office,” states a Freedom4Canada press release.

“The court allowed affected businesses to claim compensation for harm and losses incurred due to the illegal CMOH orders including punitive damages,” it said.

Lawyers further argue Alberta’s cabinet acted “negligently or in bad faith by issuing orders through the CMOH” while MLAs “chose to camouflage their actions as public health orders under the PHA so they could blame the CMOH rather than accept political responsibility.”

Feasby in his decision acknowledged the plaintiffs “plead essentially that cabinet hid behind the CMOH thereby avoiding democratic accountability.”

“That, in my view, is a collateral purpose that is plausibly bad faith,” he wrote, stating the court’s express permission for punitive damages claims “to hold Alberta accountable and deter future misconduct” and agreeing this is a reasonable common issue.

“Specifically Justice Feasby acknowledged that punitive damages are intended to punish wrongful conduct rather than compensate for losses, and can sometimes be assessed on a class-wide basis,” states the news release.

“Unlike general damages, which require individual assessments, punitive damages can be addressed as a common issue when the misconduct affects a broad group,” explained lawyers.

“All individuals who owned, in whole or in part, a business or businesses in Alberta that was subject to full or partial closure, or operational restrictions, mandated by the CMOH Orders between March 17, 2020, and the date of certification. For clarity, “owned” does not include ownership as a shareholder in a corporation or as a member of a cooperative,” reads the judge’s decision.

Following the judge’s announcement, Rath said, “This is a huge day for Alberta businesses that were illegally harmed by Jason Kenny and Deena Hinshaw.”

“The court found that the action can proceed against the government of Alberta on a number of grounds including misfeasance in public office allowing the plaintiffs to seek punitive damages against the Alberta government for wrongdoing,” said Rath.