Summary:

• Mila Hills Swine Ltd. and other plaintiffs, representing Ontario hog farmers, sued the Ontario government for negligence in the administration of a financial assistance program designed in 2007-2008.
• The plaintiffs claimed the program’s reliance on outdated "allowable net sales" (ANS) data from 2000-2004 failed to reflect their current financial hardships, resulting in insufficient subsidy payments.
• The Crown argued the program design was a core policy decision, immune from negligence liability, and the claim was also time-barred under the Limitations Act, 2002.

Key Points:

• The court had to determine whether the program’s design was a policy or operational decision and if the claim was time-barred.
• It found the decision to use outdated ANS data was a policy decision, thus protected from negligence claims under the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019.
• The plaintiffs were aware of the program’s basis on outdated data since 2008, suggesting their claim was discovered then and thus barred by the two-year limitation period.

Outcome:

• The motion for summary judgment by the Crown was granted, dismissing the plaintiffs’ action for being based on a policy decision and time-barred. The document does not specify the total amount of costs or award ordered