Class action relating to TCE in the groundwater in Shannon - Integration of Cannon Street residents in the individual claims process

QUEBEC CITY and MONTREAL, April 9, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - The parties in this case are pleased to announce that following the March 31, 2022, Superior Court of Quebec decision, the residents of Cannon Street (situated in the municipality of the Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier) can now submit their claims. The Claims period has also been extended for all claimants and will now end on January 15, 2023.

On December 23, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada declined to grant leave to appeal to the parties. The January 17, 2020, decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal ordering Canada and the other defendants to pay moral and punitive damages in connection with the contamination of the groundwater in the municipality of Shannon has therefore put an end to the litigation between the parties.

According to this decision and a subsequent decision dating November 1, 2021, persons aged 18 years and over on December 21, 2000, and who resided in certain specific areas of the municipality of Shannon or on Cannon Street (situated in the municipality of the Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier), Quebec, for at least a month during certain periods between April 1995 and June 2006 could be entitled to cumulative compensation ranging from $250 to $64,000, plus interest and additional indemnity accrued between July 16, 2007, and the date of payment of the compensation. 

Since the Supreme Court of Canada's decision was announced, the parties have been engaged in discussions with respect to the terms of the protocol that govern the individual claims process. The parties worked together throughout the discussions to develop this protocol and to ensure that the steps it sets out could be carried out promptly and efficiently.

In the context of said discussions, the parties agreed to propose the services of a claims administrator to manage the claims process. This decision was made to ensure a rigorous, fast and efficient claims process.

Last June 30, 2021, the Superior Court of Quebec approved the agreed-upon Claims protocol. The Claims process which has started July 10, 2021, is now open to claimants who have resided in all admissible zones during the included periods, including on Cannon Street.

Additional information is available on the website created by the claims administrator for the Claims Process, at actioncollectiveshannon.ca.

SOURCE Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton

Tel.: [phone], E-mail: [email protected], Website: actioncollectiveshannon.ca