Ontario judge keeps Bell evidence on record in prison class-action lawsuit against incumbent

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that evidence by BCE. Inc. should remain on the record in a would-be class-action lawsuit against the incumbent and the province of Ontario over what the plaintiffs say are “unconscionable” telephone rates charged to the families of prisoners. In a decision dated Dec. 22 Superior Court Justice Paul Perell opted to keep an affidavit from Bell general counsel Pierre-Luc Hébert on the record which Sotos Class Actions attorney Tassia Poynter argued amounted to an opinion in service of Bell’s overall argument – that the CRTC, rather than Ontario Superior Court, is the proper venue for a dispute over the prison phone rates. Perell heard arguments to dismiss the affidavit on Dec. 7 in what was initially meant as a certification hearing for an uncertified class of prisoners, former prisoners, and their family members. The class action lawsuit was first filed in February of 2020, and seeks statutory and general damages of $152 million, for “monies had and received under invalid and unconscionable agreements,” as well as punitive damages of $10 million while Bell held a contract in Ontario prisons. The suit – updated in Aug. 2020 – names two plaintiffs with a connection to the Ontario prison system. One of whom, Ransome Capay, incurred between $700 and $1,000 in monthly phone bills taking collect calls from his son, who was held in pre-trial detention at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre and Kenora Jail. According to Hébert’s affidavit the plaintiffs’ action did not satisfy the certification criteria for a class-action lawsuit and it should be stayed or dismissed because Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice “has no substantive jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action” and the complaint should be heard through the CRTC which Hébert says has jurisdiction in the matter of regulating long-distance collect call rates. In addition to arguing that the affidavit was opinion evidence, the plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Hébert was expressing an expert’s opinion he was not qualified to give. They further claimed that if he is deemed to be an expert then he should be disqualified on the grounds of partisanship “and because of his failure to give the undertakings required of an independent expert to provide opinion evidence that is fair, objective, and non-partisan,” according to the court documents. Perell found that Hébert’s testimony did not fall within one of the exceptions for opinion evidence, the judge wrote in his decision. “Hébert’s evidence is fact evidence about the context of the operation of the regulatory scheme under the OTMS including: (a) the technological operation of the (Offender Telephone Management System); (b) the alleged contracting with class members; (c) the charging for collect calls; (d) the role of the CRTC; and (e) the role of the CCTS (Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services),” Perell wrote in his decision. In addition to dismissing the plaintiffs’ motion, costs were awarded to Bell. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Ontario judge keeps Bell evidence on record in prison class-action lawsuit against incumbent

News | January 5, 2022

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Ontario judge keeps Bell evidence on record in prison class-action lawsuit against incumbent

News | January 5, 2022

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