Crawford Class Action Services, the Court appointed administrator of the pre-1986/post-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement, has put up the official settlement website at www.pre86post90settlement.ca
From now on, that site will be the place to go for the most up to date information regarding the settlement. While I may post news here from time to time, Crawford's site will be the main source of information.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Applications
A number of people have been asking when applications will be available. They should be available around August 10, 2007.
Under the Settlement Agreement, the Implementation Date for the settlement is 30 days after the last Court Approval Order becomes final. The Court Approval Orders become final when the time period for an appeal expires, or if an appeal is filed, when that appeal is finally dealt with. To my knowledge, no appeal has been filed, and the deadline for filing appeals expired yesterday. So the Implementation Date for the settlement is 30 days from yesterday. The government will not provide any of the money for the settlement until the Implementation Date.
The further 30 day period is necessary because of section 36 of the British Columbia Class Proceedings Act, which says:
We plan to mail applications to everyone we have an address for. The application forms will also be posted on a special settlement website to be set up and run by Crawford. If you don't get an application in the mail, and can't get one from the website, there will be a phone number where you can call and have one mailed to you.
The website address, phone numbers and mailing addresses will be posted here as soon as they are available.
Under the Settlement Agreement, the Implementation Date for the settlement is 30 days after the last Court Approval Order becomes final. The Court Approval Orders become final when the time period for an appeal expires, or if an appeal is filed, when that appeal is finally dealt with. To my knowledge, no appeal has been filed, and the deadline for filing appeals expired yesterday. So the Implementation Date for the settlement is 30 days from yesterday. The government will not provide any of the money for the settlement until the Implementation Date.
The further 30 day period is necessary because of section 36 of the British Columbia Class Proceedings Act, which says:
(2) If a representative plaintiff does not appeal as permitted by subsection (1) within the time limit for bringing an appeal set under section 14 (1) (a) of the Court of Appeal Act or if a representative plaintiff abandons an appeal under subsection (1), any member of the class or subclass for which the representative plaintiff had been appointed may apply to a justice of the Court of Appeal for leave to act as the representative plaintiff for the purposes of subsection (1).
(3) An application by a class or subclass member for leave to act as the representative plaintiff under subsection (2) must be made within 30 days after the expiry of the appeal period available to the representative plaintiff or by such other date as the justice may order.
We plan to mail applications to everyone we have an address for. The application forms will also be posted on a special settlement website to be set up and run by Crawford. If you don't get an application in the mail, and can't get one from the website, there will be a phone number where you can call and have one mailed to you.
The website address, phone numbers and mailing addresses will be posted here as soon as they are available.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Administration of the Settlement
Crawford Class Action Services has been appointed as administrators for the settlement. This is the same company that administers the 86-90 settlement.
We are working with Crawford to get all of the application forms and standard operating procedures in place as quickly as possible. As soon as the forms are available, I will post a notice here telling people how to get forms, where to get further information, etc.
In the meantime, there is no reason to call Crawford, Health Canada or any of the lawyers' offices asking for application forms or instructions. No one is yet in a position to begin accepting applications.
We are working with Crawford to get all of the application forms and standard operating procedures in place as quickly as possible. As soon as the forms are available, I will post a notice here telling people how to get forms, where to get further information, etc.
In the meantime, there is no reason to call Crawford, Health Canada or any of the lawyers' offices asking for application forms or instructions. No one is yet in a position to begin accepting applications.
Link to Court Decisions
The decisions of the Courts in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec approving the settlement can be found here:
http://www.kleinlyons.com/hepc/cdocslist.html
http://www.kleinlyons.com/hepc/cdocslist.html
Saturday, June 09, 2007
All Courts have now approved the settlement
We have now received the decision of the British Columbia Court approving the settlement. A link to a copy of that decision will also be posted shortly.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Settlement Approved by the Courts in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta
The Courts in Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario have approved the settlement. Links to copies of their decisions will be posted soon. We have not yet received a decision from British Columbia.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Court Decisions by June 8, 2007
We have been informed by the Courts that the decisions on the Settlement Approval Motions will be issued on or before June 8, 2007. We will post information regarding the decisions as soon as they are issued.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
No News
Just a short update to say that there is no update. We have not yet received approval from the Courts. I will post here as soon as we do.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Court Hearings Now Completed
All of the Court Approval hearings have now been completed. We expect we will hear from the judges sometime in the next few weeks. I'll post as soon as we hear anything.
No applications will be available until after we have a decision from all 4 Courts. One of the main reasons for that is the Court will be appointing an administrator to implement the settlement. Until we know who the administrator is, there is no one to send applications to.
No applications will be available until after we have a decision from all 4 Courts. One of the main reasons for that is the Court will be appointing an administrator to implement the settlement. Until we know who the administrator is, there is no one to send applications to.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Ontario Court Hearings
The Settlement Approval Hearing in Ontario was held on February 5 & 6. I believe the hearing went very well. Justice Winkler, who presided over the hearing, is the same judge who has had jurisdiction over the 1986-1990 settlement. He is very aware of all of the issues, and is a very senior class action judge.
We provided to Justice Winkler copies of the various letters people had written in about the settlement.
In addition, there were several class members in the courtroom, and Justice Winkler allowed anyone who wished to speak an opportunity to give their views on the settlement.
At the end of the hearing, Justice Winkler indicated that he would not be issuing a decision until all of the other provincial hearings were completed.
The Quebec hearing is being heard today (Feb. 7) in Montreal. The hearing in British Columbia is on the 21st in Vancouver, and the hearing in Alberta is on the 28th in Edmonton.
No application forms will be available until after we get decisions from the courts. I'll post here when we have any news.
We provided to Justice Winkler copies of the various letters people had written in about the settlement.
In addition, there were several class members in the courtroom, and Justice Winkler allowed anyone who wished to speak an opportunity to give their views on the settlement.
At the end of the hearing, Justice Winkler indicated that he would not be issuing a decision until all of the other provincial hearings were completed.
The Quebec hearing is being heard today (Feb. 7) in Montreal. The hearing in British Columbia is on the 21st in Vancouver, and the hearing in Alberta is on the 28th in Edmonton.
No application forms will be available until after we get decisions from the courts. I'll post here when we have any news.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
1958 Start Date removed from Settlement
The Settlement Agreement has been amended to remove the January 1, 1958 start date for the class period.
The new definition of class period under the agreement is:
"Class Period" means collectively the period prior to and including December 31, 1985 and the period from July 2, 1990 to September 28, 1998, excluding the period from January 1, 1986 to July 1, 1990."
The new definition of class period under the agreement is:
"Class Period" means collectively the period prior to and including December 31, 1985 and the period from July 2, 1990 to September 28, 1998, excluding the period from January 1, 1986 to July 1, 1990."
Reason for the Red Cross deduction
A lot of people have asked me why 8/11ths of the amounts received under the Red Cross settlement will be deducted from the new settlement with the Federal Government.
The reason for the deduction of the Red Cross settlement amount is as follows:
The concept of this Settlement Agreement is to provide pre-86/post-90 claimants with a compensation program which reflects parity with the 86-90 settlement, at least as far as the Federal contribution to the 86-90 settlement is concerned. The Federal Government contributed 8/11ths of the money to the 86-90 settlement, the provinces contributed the rest (3/11ths).
The 86-90 people did not receive anything from the Red Cross. This was a deal worked out with the Federal Government and the Red Cross at the time the Red Cross was under bankruptcy protection. The Federal Government and the 86-90 group both agreed not to assert any claim against the Red Cross so that all of the available money could go to the pre-86/post-90 group. They did this in recognition that the 86-90 group was getting money from the federal government whereas the pre-86/post-90 group was not.
Now that the pre-86/post-90 group is going to receive compensation from the Federal Government, if there was not a deduction the pre-86/post-90 group would end up getting more in total than the 86-90 group got (at least with respect to the contribution by the Federal Government).
I hope that clarifies things.
The reason for the deduction of the Red Cross settlement amount is as follows:
The concept of this Settlement Agreement is to provide pre-86/post-90 claimants with a compensation program which reflects parity with the 86-90 settlement, at least as far as the Federal contribution to the 86-90 settlement is concerned. The Federal Government contributed 8/11ths of the money to the 86-90 settlement, the provinces contributed the rest (3/11ths).
The 86-90 people did not receive anything from the Red Cross. This was a deal worked out with the Federal Government and the Red Cross at the time the Red Cross was under bankruptcy protection. The Federal Government and the 86-90 group both agreed not to assert any claim against the Red Cross so that all of the available money could go to the pre-86/post-90 group. They did this in recognition that the 86-90 group was getting money from the federal government whereas the pre-86/post-90 group was not.
Now that the pre-86/post-90 group is going to receive compensation from the Federal Government, if there was not a deduction the pre-86/post-90 group would end up getting more in total than the 86-90 group got (at least with respect to the contribution by the Federal Government).
I hope that clarifies things.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Official Notice of Court Hearings
The official Notice of Settlement Approval Hearings is being published in newspapers across the country. It has also been mailed to several thousand people (accepted claimants under the Red Cross settlement, other people who have contacted us over the years, etc.).
You can see a copy of the notice, in French and English, at www.pre86hepc.com
The settlement agreement itself is also posted in French and English at www.pre86hepc.com
Claimants do not have to do anything right now. If the Courts approve the settlement, there will be further notices telling people how to apply for the settlement. So, you don't have to worry right now whether you are on any particular list, etc. You will be able to apply later.
People are welcome to come to watch the Court proceedings if they wish. If you do wish to come, it would be helpful if you could let us know by email at hepc@reko.ca, so that we can make sure that we have enough room for everyone.
If you want to make an oral statement to the Court, or if you intend to retain a lawyer to make submissions on your behalf, you must let us know by no later than January 31, 2007, so that we can schedule things properly. Instructions, contact addresses, etc. are in the Notice.
You can see a copy of the notice, in French and English, at www.pre86hepc.com
The settlement agreement itself is also posted in French and English at www.pre86hepc.com
Claimants do not have to do anything right now. If the Courts approve the settlement, there will be further notices telling people how to apply for the settlement. So, you don't have to worry right now whether you are on any particular list, etc. You will be able to apply later.
People are welcome to come to watch the Court proceedings if they wish. If you do wish to come, it would be helpful if you could let us know by email at hepc@reko.ca, so that we can make sure that we have enough room for everyone.
If you want to make an oral statement to the Court, or if you intend to retain a lawyer to make submissions on your behalf, you must let us know by no later than January 31, 2007, so that we can schedule things properly. Instructions, contact addresses, etc. are in the Notice.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Court Dates Set
The dates have now been set for the Court hearings to seek approval of the settlement. They are:
February 5 - Toronto
February 7 - Montreal
February 21 - Vancouver
February 28 - Edmonton
Some of the hearings may go more than one day.
More details will be published in newspapers across the country starting this week. The official notice will be posted online shortly. I'll post the address here as soon as it is online.
February 5 - Toronto
February 7 - Montreal
February 21 - Vancouver
February 28 - Edmonton
Some of the hearings may go more than one day.
More details will be published in newspapers across the country starting this week. The official notice will be posted online shortly. I'll post the address here as soon as it is online.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Our office has moved
Roy Elliott Kim O'Connor LLP has moved into new offices. The new address is:
200 Front Street West
23rd Floor
P.O. Box #45
Toronto, ON M5V 3K2
The phone, fax and email remain the same.
200 Front Street West
23rd Floor
P.O. Box #45
Toronto, ON M5V 3K2
The phone, fax and email remain the same.
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