SK Court of King’s Bench rejects proposed intervenors in forced sterilization class action – Canadian Lawyer Mag
July 29, 2024
The Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench dismissed the applications for intervenor status by Amnesty Canada and the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) in a class action case alleging forced sterilization of Aboriginal women.
The plaintiffs in this class action claimed that Aboriginal women had been sterilized without proper or informed consent through tubal ligation procedures following childbirth, situating these allegations within a broader context of systemic racism and human rights violations.
The plaintiffs asserted that forced sterilizations are a manifestation of institutional, systemic racism and a violation of human rights, including breaches of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights. They sought to have this action certified as a class action against the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). They proposed a class including all Aboriginal women who were sterilized in SHA hospitals without providing proper and informed consent.
