In what circumstances will a class action be certified?

In Sutherland v. Canada (Attorney General) (1997), 15 C.P.C. (4th) 329 (B.C.S.C.), Smith J. dealt with a class certification application by persons affected by the operation of a third runway at Vancouver airport. Mr. Justice Smith held there were no common issues because of the variables impacting on the various members of the proposed class, stating at p. 341: Moreover, they [the issues] are intrinsically individualistic and would inevitably reduce to discrete adjudications for each plaintiff. Little or no benefit would accrue to class members from a common trial of any of these issues and, in the circumstances, a class proceeding would not be a fair and efficient method for resolving them.