A Superior Court judge has given the go-ahead to a class-action lawsuit against the Ontario Provincial Police over the 2006 native occupation of the former Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia.

The lawsuit involves four businesses and 14 Caledonia residents, and names former OPP commissioner Gwen Boniface, the former Haldimand OPP detachment commander and the Ontario government.

The plaintiffs allege police actions in the native standoff caused them "to suffer an economic loss."

The suit alleges the OPP and province broke laws in their response to the occupation.

The allegations have yet to be proven in court.

"This is a very unusual class-action lawsuit in Ontario," said plaintiff lawyer John Findlay. "It's a class-action suit that has to do with accountability of public officials."

In a decision released yesterday, Judge David Crane agreed the lawsuit reasonably met the requirements of identifiable classes with common claims.

The class-action lawsuit focuses on the closure of Argyle Street and of Highway 6, and the OPP's alleged failure to enforce court injunctions.

In his decision to certify the class action, Crane said plaintiffs could be identified in four subclasses:

* The Caledonia business class, which alleges direct economic loss from the two-day shutdown of the Hydro One Caledonia transformer station.

* The property occupiers class, who allege they were subjected to repeated threats, harassment and intimidation including death threats and physical assault as a result of their properties being close to the former Douglas Creek Estates.

* The contractor class, who allege they were unable to recover losses when contracts on the subdivision were halted.

* The Highway 6 class, who allege their commercial businesses suffered economic losses because customer access to their businesses was cut when Highway 6 and Argyle Street were blockaded.

Some 200 businesses fall under the Caledonia business class, 442 homes fall under the property occupiers class and 300 businesses fall under the Highway 6 class.

"It is readily apparent that the core issue of this lawsuit is whether there was a failure of the OPP to provide statutorily and contractually required policing services to the residents of Caledonia in each of the identified circumstances," Crane wrote in his decision.

"The essential issue in the litigation as a class proceeding is the question of whether the defendants surrendered too readily to threats of disruption in the circumstances presented," he wrote.

"Did the defendants allow a state of lawlessness to exist? Did the defendants respond reasonably to circumstances that required a balanced approach?"

The Crown attorney's office has 30 days to appeal Crane's certification.

pmorse@thespec.com

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