Case information

Civil procedure — Class action — Conditions for authorization — Whether class action can be authorized where plaintiff has not shown that he has valid personal claim against defendant with which he did business — For class action to be authorized against defendants with which plaintiff has no legal relationship, what evidence must be adduced by plaintiff against each of those defendants — Whether Court of Appeal erred in unreasonably lowering threshold for authorization by authorizing all proposed causes of action on basis that they were not all untenable, frivolous or clearly unfounded — Whether issue of law that has already been decided is common issue that suffices for authorization of class action within meaning of art. 575(1) of Code of Civil Procedure — Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C 25.01, art. 575.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Since June 2014, Bernard Côté had purchased his prescription drugs from Pharmacie Carole Bessette et Francis Gince, Pharmaciens inc., one of the applicants. He had been insured under a private medical insurance plan since 1996. In October 2016, he decided to file an application for authorization to institute a class action against a series of pharmacy businesses. In support of his application, he alleged that he was unable to obtain disclosure of the amount of professional fees and costs charged by his pharmacist for filling medical prescriptions, which, he argued, was in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, CQLR, c. P 40.1, the Civil Code of Québec and professional obligations. He argued that this was a widespread practice among pharmacists despite the coming into force in September 2017 of an amendment to the Act respecting prescription drug insurance, CQLR, c. A 29.01, which imposed an obligation to be transparent in invoicing. Mr. Côté also alleged that the costs or fees for filling or renewing prescriptions charged by the pharmacists to consumers with private insurance were unreasonable, unfair and disproportionate in comparison with those charged to beneficiaries under the public prescription drug insurance plan for the same prescription or professional act. In addition, he alleged that the professional fees charged by the pharmacists to those with private insurance were double or triple those charged to beneficiaries under the public prescription drug insurance plan when a prescription was renewed for two or three months. In support of his allegations, he filed a number of documents. The respondent, Yvette Turgeon, is acting in continuance of suit for Bernard Côté in her capacity as liquidator of his succession. The Superior Court authorized the class action. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.