VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A British Columbia Supreme Court justice has certified a class-action lawsuit against Canadian National and Canadian Pacific (now CPKC) over the 2021 wildfire that destroyed the community of Lytton, B.C., saying in a ruling this week that there is “some basis in fact” to support allegation that railroad operations caused the fire.
The Dec. 2 ruling by Justice Ward Branch notes that the certification “is not a determination of the merits, where greater evidentiary precision is necessary.” It comes after another proposed class-action suit was denied certification in 2023 [see “Court turns down class-action suit …,” Trains.com, Aug. 11, 2023] and a Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigation that did not find “any evidence to link railway operations to the fire” [see “TSB finds no evidence …,” Trains.com, Oct. 14, 2021].
The June 30, 2021, fire killed two people and took more than two months to contain, consuming more than 800 square kilometers (about 309 square miles, or more than 197,000 acres). Plaintiffs in the suit contend sparks from a passing train caused the fire, which came during a heat wave that saw a Canadian record temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit) the day before.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs told the CBC the matter is slated to go to trial in May 2027. The ruling means his clients will now have access to documents from the two railroads regarding events on the day of the fire.
CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski told Global News that the railroad is disappointed with the decision and is considering its options. Noting that certification does not require a full assessment of evidence, she said, “Multiple expert agencies have considered the evidence and found no connection between the fire and railway operations. We are confident that, at trial, the Court will be able to consider all the factual elements already reviewed by these agencies to come to the same conclusion.”
Maybe they can use U.S. law where the guilty party is the one with the most money.
The BC supreme courts are a joke. Just a glorified activist group.