Saskatchewan Court Stays Class Action As An Abuse Of Process

On November 13, 2018, Justice Keene of the Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan released a decision staying a class action filed in Saskatchewan with respect to the Equifax cybersecurity breach incident that occurred in 2017. The court found the class action to be an abuse of process, as it served no legitimate purpose.

Five other class proceedings have been commenced in Canada in relation to the same incident, including proposed national class actions in Ontario and British Columbia.

Class counsel in the Saskatchewan action, Merchant Law Group, was also counsel of record for three of the five actions filed in other jurisdictions. In submissions made in connection with a carriage motion in one of the Ontario actions, class counsel articulated the purpose of the Saskatchewan action as follows: