What is the impact of a finding that a class action is not the preferable procedure for bringing an individual action?

Nova Scotia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Canada (Attorney General) v. MacQueen, 2014 NSCA 96 (CanLII):

Furthermore, the small value of individual claims in this case, as argued by the respondents, has ramifications for access to justice in light of the finding that a class action was not the preferable procedure. In Markson v. MBNA Canada Bank, [2004] O.J. No. 5310 (Sup. C.J.), Cullity J. discussed the concern for access to justice “where individual proceedings would be prohibitively uneconomic or inefficient.” He held that, even though there was insufficient commonality of interest between class members for access to justice concerns to justify certification: 10 ... This does not exclude, as a legitimate costs consideration, the possible "chilling effect" on access to justice in other cases of a costs order against a plaintiff who did not succeed in obtaining an order for certification that was probably essential to the initiation of any proceeding to obtain even the declaratory and injunctive relief that the plaintiff sought. Such relief was aimed at behavioral modification in an important respect - observance of, and compliance with, the criminal law. To the extent that awards of costs may act as a deterrent to proceedings brought to achieve this objective they will tend to defeat two of the objectives of the legislation. [Emphasis added]

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