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Class Actions (Ont) - Certification - Disclosing Cause of Action [CPA s.5(1)(a)](a. Palmer v. Teva Canada Limited
In Palmer v. Teva Canada Limited (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against a lower court dismissal of a class action certification motion.
Here the court considers the CPA s.5(1)(a) law of "whether the pleadings disclose a cause of action":[31] The test to determine whether the pleadings disclose a cause of action for the purposes of s. 5(1)(a) of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 is, assuming the facts as stated in the statement of claim can be proved, it is “plain and obvious” the claim cannot succeed.
[32] Section 5(1)(a) is designed to weed out claims that, on the pleadings, have no chance of success. It is not an inquiry into the merits of the action, and the facts pleaded in the statement of claim are deemed to be true: Pro-Sys Consultants, at para. 63. The question is not whether the claim is likely to succeed, but whether the suit is appropriately brought as a class action: Hollick, at para. 25. If a claim has no reasonable prospect of success, it should not be allowed to proceed to trial: R. v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., 2011 SCC 42, [2011] 3 S.C.R. 45, at para. 17.
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