The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing a case today involving a Quebec City cement factory and a group of neighbours who sued the company in an environmental class action lawsuit.
The neighbours, who lived near the St. Lawrence Cement factory, sought compensation for damages caused by the factory's operation -- which they claimed included decades of noise, odour and dust problems.
A Quebec Superior Court ordered St. Lawrence Cement to pay $15 million in damages to the neighbours but said the company was not involved in any wrongdoing.
The Quebec Court of Appeal later ruled that nuisance claims could not be brought as a class action proceeding.
Instead, the appeal court said the right to bring such claims was limited to property owners, not tenants or the spouses and children of owners.
Still, the court found the company was at fault since it was obligated to keep its pollution control equipment in "optimal" working order, reports The Montreal Gazette.
St. Lawrence Cement appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, saying it had consistently met regulatory emission standards. The case marks the first environmental class action from Quebec to be heard before the SCC, reports The Gazette.
Meanwhile, lawyers for two environmental groups -- Quebec Environmental Law Centre and Friends of the Earth Canada (FOEC)-- are intervening in the case Thursday.
"This case in Quebec . . . will shape the way class suits will be used and available for citizens in the future," Beatrice Olivastri, Friends of the Earth Canada CEO, told CTV.ca.
"We believe this to have national significance, so we are intervening."
Olivastri said it's important that middle to lower income Canadians have access to class actions.
"In Canada (class action environmental lawsuits) are relatively fresh approach. As a tool for environmental justice, it's relatively recent," said Olivastri. "This is why it's very important (because) we are looking at ways to keep the use of class action flexible and available to ordinary citizens."
The environmental groups are being represented by pro bono counsel from Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund) and the firm of Lauzon B�langer.
"Although Canadians want and expect their governments to control industry's pollution, there are gaps in local standards and implementation measures that must be overcome," Michel B�langer, counsel at Lauzon B�langer in Montreal, said in a press release.
