Case information

Civil procedure — Class actions — Certification — Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls — Negligent police investigation — What level of deference is owed by Canadian courts in the specific context of a class actions claim and the factual matrix established therein at the pleadings stage? — In the context of class action litigation at the pleading stage, to what extent are Canadian courts to find ‘some basis in fact’ from documents incorporated by reference? — Is the duty between Canada and the Indigenous Class so clearly restricted to land that even as a novel claim, it should be denied access to the judgment seat by denial of certification?

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The applicant, Ms. BigEagle, is the mother of Danita Faith BigEagle, who has been missing since February 2007. In 2018, Ms. BigEagle launched a class action against the respondent Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) on behalf of a proposed class consisting of the immediate and extended family, among others, of Indigenous women murdered or missing, whose disappearance was reported to the RCMP. The claim alleges that the family and community class members were harmed by acts, decisions or policies of the RCMP in the context of investigations into the murders or disappearances of these victims. The certification judge determined that the claim disclosed no reasonable cause of action and struck the claim, without leave to amend. The certification judge found that there was no prospect of success because, except in exceptional circumstances, the RCMP do not owe a duty of care to victims of crime and their families due to a lack of proximity. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, having found that the certification judge committed no error in dismissing the motion for certification.