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The Ontario Superior Court of Justice is expectedto certify a class-action lawsuit launched byfamilies ofFlight PS752's victims againstIran, a wing of its militaryand Ukraine International Airlines, according to theirlawyer.

Toronto-based lawyer Tom Arndt said the court heard the certification motion yesterday and today indicated it would be endorsing the proposed lawsuit.

The move comes after the court found the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in default last month for failing to submit a statement of defence.

Habib Haghjoo who lost his daughter Saharnaz Haghjoo and his eight-year-old granddaughter Elsa Jadidiwhen PS752 was shot down said he's "thrilled" the lawsuit is moving ahead. He said the point of the lawsuit is to seek justice, not compensation.

"Now the fight can begin," he said. "I believe this could at least be some ointment on our wounds, a bit of comfort if we get a ruling against the Iranian regime and airlines. They took our loved ones. We want them to be liable and accountable. It is important."

The lawsuit alleges the Islamic Republic of Iran and theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corpsan elite wing of the country's military designated as a terrorist organization by many countries kept the airspace open and planes flying during a period of intense military activityin order to collectoverflight fees.

CBC News has reported that, in recent years,Iran has usedits geographical location next door to Iraq and near Syria to providesafe passage for foreign airlines connectingbetween Europe and Asia, orbetween Asia and other areas of the world. Like many countries, Iran charges airlines an overflight fee for using its airspace but its prices are more than double whatCanada charges.

Iran's airport authority reported to Iranian media it earned more than $140 million in overflight revenue between March 2018 and March 2019.

For three days after the aircraft crashed outside Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020,Irandenied shooting it down. In response to mounting international pressure and evidence, Iran later admitted the IRGC "mistakenly" shot down the jet just hours after Iran's forces fired missiles at Iraqi bases where U.S. troops were stationed.

That surface-to-air missile attack was retaliation for the United States' killing of Iran's top military leader, Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

The lawsuit alleges the airline was negligent fornot grounding its aircraft the morningPS752 was destroyed. Several airlines rerouted their flights, but Flight PS752 departed "despite the known risks," the law firm said in a press release when it launched the lawsuit.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had issued an official notice at the time ordering American commercial aircraft to avoid Iran and the airspace from the Gulf of Oman to the Mediterranean.

Airlines from Canada, Australia andSingapore "also steered clear," according to a Canadian report on Flight PS752 released in December. Ukraine International Airlines is one of the companies that continued to operate in the airspace that Iran kept open.

Iran has maintained that a series of human errors and other issues led to the accidental firing of missiles which misidentified the commercial plane as a hostile target.

But Canada's former minister of foreign affairs Franois-Philippe Champagne has said he doesn't believe human error was to blame. Canada has submitted a long list of questions for Iran to answer includingthe question ofwhy the airspace was kept open when missiles were being fired.

Ralph Goodale,Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's special adviser on Flight PS752,hassaid that"given the extraordinary nature" of Iran'sdescription of events, "it is understandable that victims' families find Iran's explanations difficult to accept."

"To remove doubt and relieve anxiety, Iran bears a heavy burden of responsibility to be completely comprehensive and transparent in substantiating its explanations with credible, compelling evidence, which has not yet been forthcoming," Goodale wrote in a December report.

Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) announced yesterday it received a draft of Iran's final report on its safety investigation. Ukraine which has access to the report since its plane was involved appointed a TSB representative as a technical adviser so thatCanada could provide feedback on the findings.

The TSB said itcan't comment further on the contents of the Flight PS752 report until Iran releases it publicly. Countrieshave until the end of the month to provide feedback.

Iran's president announced in December the country's cabinet set aside $150,000 in compensation for each of thevictims' families. Canada has said it rejects that offer and willonly accept compensation through appropriate negotiations with a group of countries affected by Flight PS752.

Haghjoo called the $150,000 offer a "huge insult to families."

"They kill our loved ones and now want to buy us or expect us to get over it with this money," he said.

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Court expected to clear Flight PS752 victims' families to sue Iran, airline - CBC.ca