Background & purpose of the system 1 basic institutions, processes, and players 3

Parties and Class Members

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  Plaintiff Class: “class members”, not “parties” (Class Proceeding Act ss. 2, 14, 15); typical class action has only one plaintiff
  
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    pursuant to (CPA s. 2(2); 5(1)(b)) ,need 2 or more class members with one appointed as representative plaintiff
    
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  Sub-Class: plaintiffs typically represent a group of objectively the same kind of people, however, as per (CPA s. 5(2), Rumley) a sub-class of persons can be dilineated who share additional common claims;
  
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    “where a class includes a subclass whose members have claims or defences that raise common issues not shared by all the class members, so that, in the opinion of the court, the protection of the interests of the subclass members requires that they be separately represented”
    
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  Defendant Class: any party to a proceeding against two or more defendants may bring a motion for an order certifying proceeding as class proceeding and appointing a representative defendant (CPA s. 4; RCP r. 12.07) (less uncommon)
  
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    defendant can have two or more proceedings against it certified (CPA s. 3)