MONTREAL -- Flooded Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac citizens have encountered an obstacle in their financial claim: the Quebec Court of Appeal has given the city a chance to get rid of their class-action lawsuit.
A citizen of the municipality wants to be authorized by a judge to exercise a class action.
He wants to have the right to pursue the municipality for damages in the name of all those whose properties flooded in April and May 2019 after rapidly rising waters ruptured a dam. He also wants the court to authorize him to pursue the Quebec government and the regional municipality of Deux-Montagnes.
The city protested and tried to have the demand thrown out of court -- before the class action had even been approved.
Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac made a technical point: the request for authorization of the class action was filed before the expiration of the 15-day period prescribed by the Cities and Towns Act (LCV).
In November, judge Donald Bisson of the superior court rejected the city's argument.
