Hi, I got this from the linkedin forum of Tim Leahy.
Update on FSW "Class Action" lawsuits
On Friday morning, opposing counsel met with Justice Barnes to discuss procedures relating to both the percolating "class-action" lawsuit over the closing of FSW files and the litigation I initiated last October.
A87.4 Litigation
The organization of this litigation remains unsettled. Justice Barnes, however, clearly favours managed litigation of individual cases over a true class-action. Justice Barnes will check with the Court Administrator to see whether the issue of class certification may be argued when he is in Toronto the last three weeks of November.
By August 31st, various counsel will be filing motions, asking the Court to prevent CIC from acting on 87.4. The key issue will be the scope of the injunction itself. Applicants' counsel argue that it should encompass all those whose files were closed, whereas DoJ argues that it should only include those who have joined the litigation. The target date for arguing this issue before the Court is the week of September 17th.
unfairCIC.com litigation
The lead litigant and his family were issued their immigrant visas on August 16th. CIC and I have agreed on the time-frame for finalizing the files of the 190 litigants whose files s. 87.4 did not close. Their visas should be issued before spring arrives.
Justice Barnes said that not until after September 4th would he be reviewing my motion, asking him to enforce the Agreement for my litigants, or deciding CIC's request that the Agreement not govern those who joined the unfairCIC.com group after June 14th.
CIC also agreed that, if the Court does not grant my motion -- or limits the ruling to those who signed on before June 14th -- my litigants will become a part of the so-called "class action" lawsuit. In other words, by mid-September those involved in the unfairCIC.com group will either know that CIC will assess their files within a specific time-frame or they will become a part of the "class action" lawsuit challenging s. 87.4.
In summation, the format of the 87.4 litigation will not be known until late November at the earliest. In late-September, the Court will decide whether CIC will be barred from implementing 87.4 and, if so, whether that order will apply (a) only to the files of those who have joined the litigation, (b) or on everyone whose file 87.4 closes. (The current voluntary deferral of implementing 87.4 terminates on September 29th.)
The date the Court decides motion seeking to bar CIC from acting on 87.4 is only a milestone in a long journey, not a deadline for being involved in this litigation. In fact it would not be too late to join even after having received a refund cheque. Just don't cash it before joining!
