Medical Marihuana Privacy Breach

1. On November 19, 2013, Health Canada mailed letters to 41,514 clients of the Marihuana Medical Access Program across Canada to advise of changes to the Program commencing on April 1, 2014. The windowed envelope containing the letter explicitly identified the “Marihuana Medical Access Program” in the return address on the outside along with the name and address of the client recipient.

2. On Thursday, November 21, 2013, George Da Pont, deputy minister at Health Canada issued an apology on Health Canada’s website describing the mailing as an administrative error. The apology stated: “I have been advised that as the result of an administrative error the envelopes were labelled to indicate that they were sent by the Program. This is not standard Health Canada practice.” The apology went on to state: “We are in discussion with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.”

3. On March 3, 2015, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) released a report of findings from its investigation into Health Canada’s November 2013 mailing. In the report, the OPC concluded that complaints of a privacy breach were well founded and that Health Canada violated the federal Privacy Act by referencing the Marihuana Medical Access Program on the envelope in combination with the name of the addressee. The OPC’s investigation is concluded. Affected individuals do not need to file complaints to the OPC.

4. In November 2013, the law firms of Branch MacMaster LLP, Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP (formerly Strosberg, Sutts LLP) Charney Lawyers PC and McInnes Cooper agreed to work together and commenced a proposed class action against the Government of Canada on behalf of all persons who were sent a letter from Health Canada in an envelope that referred explicitly to the “Marihuana Medical Access Program”. On August 29, 2017, the law firms filed a Fifth Amended Statement of Claim in the Federal Court of Canada.

5. The proposed representative plaintiffs in the class action are “John Doe” and “Suzie Jones” (who wished to use pseudonyms to protect their privacy) and Penny Kozmenski. On February 25, 2014, the Court granted an order permitting the use of pseudonyms for two of the plaintiffs, and on July 24, 2014 the Government of Canada’s appeal of this order was dismissed.

6. On July 27, 2015, the Federal Court of Canada granted the plaintiffs’ motion for certification of the action as a class proceeding. The Government of Canada appealed the July 27, 2015 certification order. On June 24, 2016, the Federal Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part, but upheld the certification order with respect to causes of action in negligence and breach of confidence. Some terms of the certification order remained in dispute requiring further determination by the Court on March 14, 2018. On January 9, 2019, the Government of Canada’s appeal of the March 14, 2018 order was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal.

7. On April 22, 2022, the Federal Court of Canada issued the Certification Order. The Order of Justice Phelan may be viewed here: English and French.

8. The Notice of Certification may be viewed here: English and French.

9. The Class is defined as:
All persons who were sent a letter from Health Canada in November 2013 that had the phrase Marihuana Medical Access Program or Programme d’Accés à des Fins Médicales visible on the front of the envelope.

10. If you fall within the class definition, you are automatically included in this class action. You do not need to do anything at this time if you wish to participate. You will be bound by the judgment in this action.

11. If you do not want to be included in this class action, you must opt out. If you opt out, you will not be bound by any order made in the action. The deadline to opt out is on or before Thursday, July 21, 2022.

12. To opt out, you must submit an opt-out form to the notice administrator. Further information on how to opt out can be found at https://www.medicalmarihuanaprivacyclassactioncanada.ca/ or you may contact the notice administrator whose contact information is as follows:

Trilogy Class Actions Services
117 Queen Street, P.O. Box 1000
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0

Email: optout@trilogyclassactions.ca

Tel: 1-877-406-5302 (toll-free)

Fax: 416-342-1761

13. The plaintiffs will be moving for summary judgment. The date of the summary judgment hearing will be posted to this website as soon as the Court assigns a date.

14. If the class action is successful, Class Members may be entitled to compensation for the breach of their privacy, damages for emotional distress/inconvenience, and/or compensation for out of pocket expenses.

15. Anyone who received the letter should register on our enhanced secure registration system, even if they have previously communicated with any of the lawyers or law firms listed at this site. Registration on the system will assist counsel in prosecuting the class action and assessing what damages were suffered by the class as a whole.

16. Anyone who has questions or encounters difficulty with the registration system may contact us toll-free at 1.866.241.9914.

17. Please revisit the site often for updates and to keep your registration up-to-date. We will continue to update this website as developments occur.