An unofficial translation of the Quebec Court of Appeal Judgment on the Blais-Létourneau class actions

A useful document was found among the thousands of pages filed in the lead up to the hearings on the "comeback" motions to renew creditor protection for Canada's three main tobacco companies. You will recall that the companies fled to Ontario courts for protection under Canada's  Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in the weeks following their crushing defeat at the Quebec Court of Appeal.

One of the criticisms leveled against the Ontario court was that it stayed the Quebec judgments without having likely read them. One of the criticisms leveled against JTI was that it had asked for protection from Ontario courts without telling them what Quebec courts had said about their behaviour. Perhaps putting the whole thing on record in English was seen as a way of addressing these concerns.

It's reasonable to expect that Ontario judges would not have read the Quebec decision. Not only is it long - 400 plus pages - it is almost entirely in French. For many Ontario lawyers, this is a language they have not been called on to use since high school.

The 5 judges who wrote the French original will likely cringe at the clunky and leaden English in the translation. (My Francophone colleagues tell me that the original ruling is beautifully penned). But until a better version comes along, this one may have to do!

• Link to JTI Motion record with the translation in it (begins at PDF page 357)
• Link to the original ruling