Wednesday, March 18, 1998
Bre-X action launched in B.C.
By PETER KENNEDY
Vancouver Bureau The Financial Post
A Vancouver lawyer acting for about 300 Bre-X Minerals Ltd. shareholders agreed yesterday to file a
statement of claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court.
But court proceedings will not begin in the province until a Texas court decides next month whether B.C.
investors can join a giant Bre-X class action suit in the U.S. The investors are anxious to join the Texas suit
because, in their view, shareholders get better treatment under U.S. securities laws.
"My clients are going to receive more compensation in Texas than they are in Canada - it's
that simple,'' said David Klein, the lawyer acting for the B.C. group. "There has never been a
certified securities class action in Canada,'' said Klein, who also represents investors in
Alberta and Nova Scotia.
Yesterday, he asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Donald Brenner to delay legal proceedings in Vancouver
until "there is some clarity in the Texas litigation.'' That action is set to begin March 30.
Klein has agreed to file a statement of claim for his clients with the B.C. Supreme Court by May 30. He did
so after arguing such a move may turn out to be a waste of time and money.
Aiming to recover some of the $3 billion wiped out last year when Bre-X's Indonesia gold find turned out to
be a scam, shareholders have also launched a multibillion-dollar class action suit in Ontario. That suit is being
led by Windsor, Ont., lawyer Harvey Strosberg.
"When all is said and done, we will have a series of lawsuits in B.C. that are identical to Ontario,'' said
James Poyner of Poyner Baxter Blaxland, the Vancouver law firm acting for the second group.
However, if the Ontario shareholders are certified as a separate class action, Poyner has struck a deal with
Strosberg that would require his group to become part of a Canada-wide class action. As a result, all litigation
launched by Poyner in B.C. would be dropped.
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