As a paying Liberty member, you are being asked to review the following content and make a decision on the below matter. When casting your vote, please choose the outcome you feel that is in the best interest of our FedsForFreedom group, regardless of your personal interests. All Liberty Members are to cast a vote below, regardless if the situation applies to them or not. 

Please note at this point we are unable to accurately forecast the costs for this action. That means we cannot articulate the scope of additional funds/fundraising that will be required to pursue this action.

Please read to the end and consider all of the information provided prior to casting your vote. Voting can be found at the bottom of the page.

Voting instructions:

  • Each member can vote once
  • If you vote “Yes” to this second Class Action, you will also be agreeing to mandatory volunteer hours with FedsForFreedom
  • Voting must be complete by 11:59PM ATL on October 21st, 2023

Results will be tabulated and announced to members 24 hours after voting closes. 51% of the membership must vote in favour of undertaking a second class action in order to proceed. Should you have any questions about the possible course of action please do not hesitate to reach out to the FFF executive team at contact@fedsforfreedom.ca before you vote.

On Monday October 16, FedsForFreedom held a special Liberty Membership meeting to discuss our Class Action lawsuit that was filed with the courts on October 6, 2023. 

Below you will find the original class definition (criteria that had to be met in order to qualify) that was presented to the membership: 

  1. You are/were a Federal Public Servant employed with a crown corporation, core-department or agency 
  2. You are/were governed by a collective agreement, represented by a Union and pay Union dues 
  3. You are/were unvaccinated or unwilling to disclose your private medical information 
  4. On or after the date the policy was announced in your department/agency/crown-corporation, you suffered 1 or more of the following harms; 
  • were terminated; 
  • attested you were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, applied for and were denied an accommodation; 
  • were placed on unpaid leave and have not yet returned to work; 
  • were placed on unpaid leave and returned to work when the mandate was suspended, on or after June 20, 2022; 
  • retired early, or 
  • sought sick leave because of the mandates 

During the process of building the case, our legal team felt our case would be stronger if the class definition was limited to employees of the Core Public Administration (CPA) and RCMP only; those who were impacted by the Treasury Board policy. 

Click here for list of all departments that fall within the CPA and a separate list of the Crown Corporations and Agencies that fall outside the CPA. 

As a result of this change, 25 members of our Liberty Membership are no longer able to participate in the filed class action.  

Our legal team has advised that it is possible to develop and file a second class action lawsuit for these members. The criteria would be essentially the same as our current class action, the only change being under what umbrella their policy was enacted (changes noted in red and italicized):  

  1. You are/were a Federal Public Servant/Employee employed with Crown Corporation or Agency outside of the core public administration  
  2. Union status is irrelevant to this action; you may participate if you are/were a paying union member or non-unionized 
  3. You are/were unvaccinated or unwilling to disclose your private medical information 
  4. On or after the date the policy was announced by your Crown Corporation or Agency you suffered 1 or more of the following harms; 
  • were terminated; 
  • attested you were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, applied for and were denied an accommodation; 
  • were placed on unpaid leave and have not yet returned to work; 
  • were placed on unpaid leave and returned to work when the mandate was suspended, on or after June 20, 2022; 
  • retired early, or 
  • sought sick leave because of the mandates 

To undertake a second class action lawsuit requires tremendous effort, financial backing and human resources. 

Prior to calling the Vote, we identified 3 named representatives for this possible second Class Action.

As a named representatives these individuals have committed to: 

  • Being the named representative on a possible second Class Action that would cover Federal Public Servants/Employee’s who did NOT fall under the Treasury Board policy for the Core Public Administration 
  • Mandatory Assistance with the following efforts to ensure a successful class action:
    • working with legal council regularly
    • relay information to members of the class
    • recruitment of class members  
    • coordination of volunteers to support efforts 
    • development of a communications plan for the class action 
    • organizing fundraising efforts to certify this class action (upwards of $500,000) 

ITEM 1: Pursue a 2nd Class Action in the Federal Courts for all Federal Public Servants/Employee's who did not fall under "Policy on COVID-19 Vaccination for the Core Public Administration Including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police"

This would be a Class Action lawsuit would be based on a complaint the tort of induing breach of an employment contract. The focus will be on the Health Minister breaching contract, and the plaintiffs suffering damages as a result. Fundraising by all members would be expected and required. This action will cover Federal Public Servants/Employee’s who work(ed) for Crown Corporations & Agencies and had separate policies from the Policy on COVID-19 Vaccination for the Core Public Administration Including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

PRO’s

  • Would cover the 25 FFF Members who do not qualify to participate in the Initial Core Public Administration Class Action filed Oct 6th
  • Would be able to use many of the filings/documents from the initial suit filed essentially piggy backing off of the initial Class Action filed
  • Mitigates the potential for financial loss as costs are not awarded in Class Actions (we will have to pay for our lawyer, but the court cannot order ‘costs’ if we are unsuccessful)
  • Only viable path to allow Crown Corporation & Agency employees to proceed to court through FedsForFreedom
  • Will have discovery and opportunity to examine government witnesses

CONs

  • Lengthy process – will require FFF members long term commitment
  • Significant additional financial cost on top of the initial Class Action – will require fundraising and sign-up fees
  • Memeber’s who are participating in this action will be mandated to volunteer
  • Will need 3 volunteers to be named complainants from the top 3 non-core departments e.g. CRA/Canada Post/Parks Canada, these volunteers will need to; recruit of class members, coordinate  volunteers to support efforts, work with legal counsel regularly, relay information to other class members throughout the process, develop of a communications plan for the class action, and organize fundraising efforts to certify this class action (upwards of $500,000)
CLASS ACTION QUALIFICATION

The following criteria must be met in order to participate in the class action suit:

  1. You are/were a Federal Public Servant/Employee employed with Crown Corporation or Agency outside of the core public administration
  2. Union status is irrelevant to this action; you may participate if you are/were a paying union member or non-unionized
  3. You are/were unvaccinated or unwilling to disclose your private medical information
  4. On or after the date the policy was announced by your Crown Corporation or Agency you suffered 1 or more of the following harms;
  • were terminated;
  • attested you were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, applied for and were denied an accommodation;
  • were placed on unpaid leave and have not yet returned to work;
  • were placed on unpaid leave and returned to work when the mandate was suspended, on or after June 20, 2022;
  • retired early, or
  • sought sick leave because of the mandates