Book Review: Class Actions in Canada: The Promise and Reality of Access to Justice By Jasminka Kalajdzic

• Author: Celeste Poltak
• Pages: 383-393

383

BOOK REVIEW:

CLASS ACTIONS IN

CANADA: THE PROMISE AND REALIT Y

OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Celeste Poltak*

A. INTRODUCTION

Much has been written in Canada an alyzing cla ss proceedings jur ispru-

dence and its evolution over the last twenty-f‌ive year s. Very little has b een

written about the actual extent to which class actions have improved or

furthered the leg islative goal of access to justice. Class Actions in Cana da1

attempts just that. While such an evaluation seems d aunting, Kalajd zic

confronts whether clas s proceedings have been able to provide ready and

meaningful justice. As the author herself notes, “lawyers and judges ta lk

about it, the public lacks it, but what is acces s to justice, and how do class

actions provide it?”2 The book marks the begi nning of that informed con-

versation and is a must-read for both counsel and the judiciary working

in the class proceedings area.

The author confronts the diff‌icult que stion of whether class procee d-

ings in Canad a have furthered the oft-cited, yet ethereal, goal of acces s to

justice. In order to answer th is somewhat elusive proposition, the book

properly begins by identifying the ver y premise of clas s proceedings, in

and of themselves:

The promise of clas s action legislation rest s singularly on t he potential for

purely procedural to ols to achieve greater justice by leve lling the playing

f‌ield between consumers and corporat ions, between citi zens and gov-

ernment, bet ween harmed individua ls and alleged wrongdoers. In doi ng

so, class action s are expected not only to remedy injurie s that would

* Celeste Poltak, LL M (London School of Economics), is a Partner at Koskie

Minsky LL P in Toronto where she practices c lass action litigation exclu sively

on the plainti ffs’ side.

1 Jasminka K alajdzic, Class Action s in Canada: The Promise and Reality of Acce ss

to Justice (Vancouver, BC: UBC Pr ess, 2018).

2 Ibid at 17 0.

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