Ragweed lawsuit against Montreal municipalities loses on appeal

Municipalities on the island of Montreal won their second legal victory on Friday against residents in a ragweed class-action lawsuit.

The Quebec Court of Appeal, the highest court in the province, rejected a $360-million claim filed in1992 by a Montrealwoman on behalf of an estimated 180,000 residentsaffected by ragweed.

The island's municipalities began regulating ragweed about 30 years ago, requiring all property owners to remove the plants by Aug. 1 of each year.

Montreal resident Franoise Nadon, who is allergic to ragweed pollen and suffers from hay fever, filed a class-action suit 16 years ago to try to get the cities and towns to obey their own bylaws.

The municipalities repealedthe bylaws in June 1996, and the Quebec Superior Court narrowed the focus of Nadon's lawsuit limiting her to suing only municipally owned landbut it eventuallydismissed the claim in January 2007.

Nadon's sister, lawyer Odette Nadon, said she's disappointed byFriday'scourt decision because Montrealers now more than ever suffer from ragweed pollen.

She said she'll study the latest ruling before deciding ifit's possibleto convince the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the case.