The Superior Court will hear next week a motion intended to suspend the class action request filed by players who allege to have been victims of abuse in Quebec junior hockey.
What there is to know
- A class action was filed last May against the Canadian Hockey League, the QMJHL and its 18 teams, on behalf of victims of abuse in junior hockey.
- In Ontario, legal proceedings are still ongoing following the rejection of a class action request in February 2023.
- In Quebec, the leagues and teams concerned are now calling for a suspension of the collective action request, pending the outcome of the case in Ontario.
The Canadian Hockey League (CHL), the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the 18 teams of the Quebec circuit are applying to the courts to have the request for class action against them in the province be suspended until summer. The defendants wish that the examination of this request be interrupted while another legal process takes its course in Ontario.
Last May, a request for class action was filed in Montreal on behalf of “all hockey players who suffered abuse while they were minors and playing” in the QMJHL since 1969. The main applicant, Carl Latulippe claims to have suffered violence, intimidation and attacks during his brief stints with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the mid-1990s.
His story, first reported in The Press, was part of a series of sordid revelations, made last winter and spring, in connection, in particular, with introductory activities in junior hockey. The population and the political class were shocked across the country, but it was in Quebec that the impacts were the most significant: commissioner of the QMJHL for 37 years, Gilles Courteau resigned after being the target of a barrage of criticism for his handling of the case.
These stories came to light mainly after an Ontario judge rejected, in February 2023, a gigantic request for collective action led by three ex-players, the best known of which is Daniel Carcillo. This request covered a period of almost 50 years and involved some 15,000 players.
Despite this rejection, the case continues its course. Indeed, far from the media lens, this case has continued to occupy the Ontario courts for 10 months now and could have a direct impact on Quebec action.
The CHL as well as the QMJHL and its 18 teams are demanding that the Superior Court of Quebec “temporarily interrupt the preparation” of the request, until July 26, 2024. Between now and that date, the potential victims of abuse in Quebec junior hockey will be able to “take advantage of the process of access to justice designed for them as part of the Carcillo case” in Ontario, it is emphasized in the request obtained by The Press. This “process” was established at the end of October.
The case will be heard on Wednesday, December 6 in Quebec.
Process
In February 2023, after rejecting the request for class action in the “Carcillo case”, Judge Paul Perell suggested that the plaintiffs resort to individual actions against the leagues or teams. He gave them 120 days to submit an action plan.
In June, the plaintiffs therefore submitted a “protocol concerning individual issues” accompanied by a plan to recruit victims of abuse across the country. Five hearings were held, during the summer and early fall, regarding what was renamed the “Section 7 Plan.”
On October 30, Judge Paul Perell issued a final judgment on the “Section 7 Plan.” This notably provides for a period of 270 days – until July 26, 2024 – during which potential victims from across Canada will be able to join centralized individual actions in Ontario.
“The plan developed in the Carcillo file represents […] the fruit of considerable work on the part of the court and the parties in order to provide an innovative and effective path to justice for players,” writes the Fasken Martineau firm, on behalf of the CHL, the QMJHL and its 18 teams, in its request to suspend Quebec’s request for action.
In the eyes of the defendants, the Quebec approach is premature and “seeks, without explanation, to create a parallel legal path” to the Ontario approach, which could also include victims from Quebec.
It is also likely to create, according to them, “confusion” for victims and to lead to “inefficient use of judicial resources”.
In the plaintiffs’ camp, we do not share this opinion. Carl Latulippe believes that “class action remains the best way to be heard by the courts in Quebec”. He explains that he is “not interested” in the proposal to join the proceedings in Ontario. “We have the justice system here in Quebec to follow that,” he insists. The request for Quebec collective action is presented by the Kugler Kandestin firm.
In Ontario either, the path to collective action has not yet been completely ruled out. Dissatisfied with Judge Paul Perell’s most recent decision, Daniel Carcillo’s group denounced the “Section 7 Plan”, arguing that it differed “greatly” from his initial suggestions and that it did not, in their eyes, offer, “sufficient access to justice” for victims. The group therefore agreed, on November 13, to request the suspension of the “Section 7 Plan” and to appeal the February decision, once again asserting the relevance of global collective action.
This development does not, however, change the position of the CHL, the QMJHL and its teams in the matter in Quebec.
The six-part affair
February 2023
Justice Paul Perell of the Ontario Superior Court rejects a request for class action against the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), the country’s three major junior hockey leagues as well as 60 teams. In his decision, he describes the physical, sexual and psychological abuse suffered by young players, particularly during initiation activities. The judge suggests that victims take individual actions against the teams and leagues.
February and March 2023
A parliamentary committee of the National Assembly of Quebec is looking into the issue of initiations in the QMJHL. The commissioner of the QMJHL, Gilles Courteau, assures that “no case reported” to the League was “similar” to the violent acts described by judge Paul Perell. Different media, including The Press, note inconsistencies in his testimony. On March 5, after 37 years in office, Mr. Courteau resigned.
April 2023
The Press reveals the story of Carl Latulippe, a former QMJHL player who claims to have been the victim of violence and intimidation among the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. In Ontario, Daniel Carcillo’s group is appealing the rejection of its request for class action. This process is, however, suspended while the plaintiffs develop, at the suggestion of Judge Paul Perell, an individual action plan.
May 2023
A request for class action, the main applicant of which is Carl Latulippe, is filed in Montreal against the Canadian Hockey League, the QMJHL and its 18 teams, in the name of “all hockey players who have suffered abuse, while ‘they were minors and playing’ in the QMJHL since 1969.
October 2023
Justice Paul Perell issues final judgment on the “Section 7 Plan,” a protocol under which victims from across Canada have until July 2024 to join centralized individual actions in Ontario.
November 2023
Dissatisfied with the judge’s proposal, Daniel Carcillo’s group is relaunching its appeal process on the initial decision of February 2023. In Quebec, the CHL, the QMJHL and its 18 teams are applying to the Superior Court to suspend the examination of the class action request filed in May until the case is resolved in Ontario.