2003 B.C.J. No. 2489
Application by the plaintiff Reid for an order certifying her action as a class proceeding and appointing her as a representative plaintiff. Reid alleged that certain motor vehicles manufactured by the defendant, Ford Motor Company, were equipped with defective parts which caused vehicles to stall without warning. She argued that because the costs of replacing the parts was small compared to the cost of litigation, the only practical means of proving the allegations was a class proceeding.
Held
Application allowed. The Pleadings disclosed a cause of action. There was an identifiable class, even if the exact number of class members and their identities were not known. The common issues in negligence and under the Trade Practice Act were at the centre of the litigation. The determination of whether Ford was a supplier to a particular consumer transaction was a simple factual matter at the individual issues stage. Reid did not have any interest in conflict with the class members. There was no evidence that any of the class members wished to control separate actions and no proposed alternative method for the claims. There was no advantage to individual litigation.