A firefighter takes on a blaze at The Forks near Beauval  (Facebook/Sandra Lynn Caisse Dennett)

By Susan McNeil

Class action lawsuit

Wildfire class action would take decades, law firm declines to pursue

Jul 18, 2025 | 12:21 PM

A class action lawsuit against the government of Saskatchewan over its wildfire response this year will not go ahead according to the firm who was exploring the idea.

Procido Law, based in Saskatoon, sent its potential claimants notification on July 18, meeting its self-imposed deadline.

“After our preliminary evaluation of the legal complexities, we have determined this matter may not lend itself well to a class action that could be resolved in a reasonable time frame,” said the firm in a group email.

“Our preliminary evaluation suggests this would be a long, drawn-out process, potentially lasting decades. On this basis, we have decided the firm is not in a position to take on this matter as a class action at this time.”

Founding partner Chad Eggerman said in previous interviews with paNOW that pursuing class action suits are tricky because of the time involved and that the law firm has to front all the costs of the work ahead of time.

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If they do not win, they are not compensated at all.

Eggerman first floated the idea of the lawsuit after hearing from over a hundred people who were unhappy with the response – or perceived lack of response – from the provincial government in dealing with an early, extreme wildfire season.

Several hundred homes were burned in various communities around northern Saskatchewan and thousands of people were displaced.

While most evacuees have gone home, new evacuations are still happening – now in northwest Saskatchewan.

Beauval will remain evacuated for weeks, the Emergency Operations Team confirmed Friday on a social media page created for communication with evacuees.

Procido said that despite their decision to not pursue the class action, people may still have individual legal claims.

Information from the webinar they hosted several weeks ago is still available.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social