Note - July 24, 2024: This story has been updated to correct an earlier version which stated that the Supreme Court of Canada ordered the Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) to pay costs (the costs in the case were ordered by a lower court). We apologise for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused.
After courts upheld an earlier decision awarding Janice Thomson a $1.3-million death benefit in her case against ivari, dismissing the company’s appeal, the Canadian Life & Health Insurance Association’s (CLHIA) bid for intervenor status in the case is also being dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada.
An earlier decision made by the Court of Appeal in Alberta ordered the CLHIA to pay the costs incurred by Thomson to address the failed intervenor bid. At the time, the association resisted, saying there was no reason to deviate from the general practice of costs neither being awarded to, nor proposed against intervenors.
“In Alberta, while this Court has acknowledged the general rule that an intervenor should bear its own costs, it does not necessarily follow from such a general rule that an intervenor should never be liable for costs,” the reasons for decision in the court of appeal case states. “Historically, the general rule regarding costs has been tied to public interest interventions, often involving constitutional challenges. There are sound policy reasons for doing so, rooted in notions of access to justice and advocacy in matters of public importance. But many interventions seek to advance private interests.”
The reasons for decision goes on to say the association, being a representative of life insurance companies in Canada, is not a public interest litigant. “The association’s proposed submissions were not necessary for the court to properly decide the issues and were not a fresh perspective, but rather supported ivari’s position on appeal. The association’s proposed factum came uncomfortably close to taking a position on the merits of the appeal which happened to align with ivari.”
In a statement to the Insurance Portal, the CLHIA says “the Alberta Court of Appeal was of the view that the party, ivari, was able to bring forward the arguments that the CLHIA was independently tabling. The CLHIA disagrees with that finding.”
The lower court awarded fees of $2,700 and charges of $9.25 in the case. On July 11 the Supreme Court dismissed both the ivari case and with it, the CLHIA’s motion for leave to intervene in the case.
