Law360 Canada ( September 22, 2021, 6:18 AM EDT) -- Appeal by the defendant Province from orders of a case management judge that struck the Province’s response to civil claim for failing to comply with its document disclosure obligations, granted judgment on liability against the Province, ordered it to pay $150,000 as an advance on damages and ordered it to pay special costs to the plaintiffs. The Province and others were sued as a result of a fatal tubing accident in a Provincial Park. After being served with the notice of civil claim in 2015, the Province did not take necessary steps to research its records and disclose documents until 2019. In June 2019, the Province produced its ninth Amended List of Documents. The result was that approximately 42,000 additional pages of documents were produced after the Province, on two occasions, swore affidavits confirming its Lists of Documents. The judge found that this was an extreme case of non-compliance. He found the Province did not provide actual final substantive document disclosure until the summer of 2019. He also found the plaintiffs had to make numerous court applications to compel the Province to turn its mind to the issues raised by the pleadings and diligently search for documents that were relevant or might be relevant. The judge found striking the Province’s response to civil claim amounted to a fit punishment. He found the plaintiffs were frustrated in their pursuit of a just outcome and the delay and consequences arising from the Province’s approach to its obligations would essentially require them to begin again....