Le Recours Collectif et La Loi Sur La Protection Du Consommateur : Complicité, Utilité, Complémentarité

• Author: Pierre-Claude Lafond
• Pages: 3-23

3

LE RECOURS COLLECTIF ET LA

LOI SUR LA PROTECTION DU

CONSOMM ATEUR

: COMPLICITÉ,

UTILITÉ, COMPLÉMENTARITÉ

Pierre-Claude Lafond

Abstract: The Consumer Protection Act and the Class Actions

Act were both enacted in Quebec in 1978, thirty-four years

ago. Far from being a simple coincidence, the integration of

these two import ant legislations in the provincial jur idical

picture reveals the narrow links between protection of vul-

nerable groups and their access to justice. Their alliance is

not only conceptual, but also strategic. The analysis and the

experiment demonst rate that, in many cases, without class

actions, the consumers possess only theoretical rights. The

processing of consumers’ complaints to the small claims

court clearly shows its limits.

Making a natural alliance w ith the Consumer Protection

Act, which offers the keys to subjective rights, the class ac-

tion procedure establishes a privileged way to access justice

for consumers. By collectivizing the processi ng of the com-

plaints, it allows for a real and effective application of the

individual r ights offered by the law. Collective problems need

collective solutions. The caselaw successes of the last four

decades illustrate the important evolution that class actions

have made in the area of consumer protection in high-level

courts — up to the Supreme Court of Canada — and they

have generated a rich jurisprudence.

Class actions give a voice to consumers. They also pro-

vide consumers with an effective remedy for damages under-

gone in numerous cases, and under va ried and creative forms.

4The Cana dian Cl ass Action R eview

Furthermore, they contr ibute to the real application of the

Consumer Protection Act, a public order legislation. Concep-

tually, the consumer law and cla ss actions are both animated

by a collective spirit. It is not surpising that they a lign so well

in practice.