Legal Research

Substitutional Service via Facebook in Alberta

By Shaunna Mireau

Ah, the unreported judgment…or in this case Order. Sometimes, interesting tidbits come out of discussions that flow to my ears via conversations from our lunchroom.

The walls of the Harvey A. Bodner Q.C. Lounge, named after one of my favourite former bosses, recently absorbed a conversation regarding a Masters order that an student-at-law heard about in passing from a professor regarding an order for substitutional service via Facebook.

The rumour made its way to me and thanks to the great memory of many individuals, including Professor Billingsley who supplied me with an action number, and our students who never complain when they are sent to the courts for searches and copies, I have a copy of the order in my hands!

The February 5, 2009 Order of Master Breitkreuz from Knott v. Sutherland says that the plaintiffs could substitutionally serve one of the multiple defendants by publication of a notice in the newspaper, by forwarding a copy of the statement of claim to the human resources department where the defendant (formerly) worked, and also by sending notice of the action to the Facebook profile of the defendant.

Precedent for service in civil matters via Facebook exists from Australia and New Zealand, but I am not aware of this being ordered previously in Alberta.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on September 24, 2009 (boomark / email).