Quebec drivers jam class-action lawsuit

The average price of gasoline in Canada rose slightly over the last week back above the $1-a-litre barrier, according to a weekly survey. Energy consultancy MJ Ervin & Associates said Tuesday.
Photo: Carlos Barria, Reuters

---

Source: Montreal Gazette

QUEBEC - More than 1,500 Quebec drivers have joined a class-action lawsuit over alleged price-fixing in the province's retail gas markets since the initiative received the green light a little more than a week ago.

"We are overwhelmed by the response," said George Iny, president of the Automobile Protection Association (APA), one of the plaintiffs.

A Quebec Superior Court judge authorized on Nov. 30 the class action against an alleged gas cartel formed of 12 oil companies and 19 individuals.

The targeted companies include: Ultramar, Esso, Imperial, Shell, Couche-Tard, Provigo, Irving, Olco and La Coop fédérée, which operates Sonic stations. Justice Dominique Bélanger excluded three individuals and three companies from the lawsuit because of a lack of evidence.

The plaintiffs are seeking $7.5 million in damages - $1,500 for each fleeced motorist and $250,000 for the APA to be spent on protecting drivers' rights.

The class action was filed a day after a Competition Bureau of Canada investigation revealed in June 2008 that gas-station owners in four Quebec cities called one another to set the pump price.

A total of 13 Quebecers and 11 companies were charged with gas-price fixing in Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke.

The class action is broader because it targets most of the retailers involved in the alleged scheme and more individuals based on the wiretap evidence gathered by the Competition Bureau.

Bélanger ruled in her decision that all people or companies with 50 employees or less that bought gas between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2006, in one of the four markets are eligible for the class action.

Motorists who want to join in can contact Lebel Avocats in Quebec City and Paquette Gadler Inc. in Montreal.

Those who don't register now will still be able to make a claim later if the courts rule in favour of the plaintiffs, lawyer Pierre Lebel said.

Most of the people who have come forward so far are from Sherbrooke, along with some drivers in the other three affected markets, he said. The APA estimates about 50,000 Quebecers could benefit from the class action.

The hearing of the lawsuit is expected to take place in about 18 to 24 months.

After the federal investigation, 10 individuals and six companies pleaded guilty and were fined more than $2.7 million.

Six of the 10 people who have pleaded guilty have received prison sentences totalling 54 months.