The Plaintiffs applied for Certification of their Action as a Class Proceeding pursuant to the Class Proceedings Act, SA 2003, c C-16.5 (“CPA”). They alleged failures of successive Directors of Child Welfare to comply with legislation which provided for the preparation and filing of care plans for children who became the subject of Temporary Guardianship Orders.

Justice Graesser noted that it is possible to certify a Class Proceeding subject to amendments to the pleadings. Graesser J. noted that, while the Court should be slow to draft pleadings itself, the Court can, and should in appropriate cases, give guidance on the pleadings. This may be appropriate during the Certification process, as opposed to sending the Plaintiffs away to reframe their class definition and common issues if they have not been perfectly drafted the first time. Justice Graesser noted that sending the Plaintiffs away to redraft their Pleadings would not be a wise use of scarce judicial resources, and would miss the thrust of the new Alberta Rules of Court and specifically Rule 1.2. Graesser J. certified the Action pursuant to section 5 of the CPA, and directed that some amendments to the Pleadings were required.