Mila Hills Swine Ltd. and other plaintiffs, representing Ontario hog farmers, sued the Ontario government for negligence in the administration of a financial assistance program designed in 2007-2008.
The plaintiffs claimed the program’s reliance on outdated "allowable net sales" (ANS) data from 2000-2004 failed to reflect their current financial hardships, resulting in insufficient subsidy payments.
The Crown argued the program design was a core policy decision, immune from negligence liability, and the claim was also time-barred under the Limitations Act, 2002.
Key Points:
The court had to determine whether the program’s design was a policy or operational decision and if the claim was time-barred.
It found the decision to use outdated ANS data was a policy decision, thus protected from negligence claims under the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019.
The plaintiffs were aware of the program’s basis on outdated data since 2008, suggesting their claim was discovered then and thus barred by the two-year limitation period.
Outcome:
The motion for summary judgment by the Crown was granted, dismissing the plaintiffs’ action for being based on a policy decision and time-barred. The document does not specify the total amount of costs or award ordered
