The subject line of a recent email jumped out like a jack-in-the-box on the final turn of its crank.
“Gus Van Harten: Canada poised to get even more lawyers.”
The headline did its job and caused us to read more. Changes could well mean more lawyers, to which we thought ugh, not more lawyers.
Like most professions or occupations, there are fantastic and competent men and women that do a great job, only to have their quality work tarnished by some that, let’s say, have few scruples.
The Law Society of Upper Canada routinely disciplines poor lawyers for egregious behaviour, but it is those that take any case, or sign any document that we have a concern with. State-side they talk about ambulance chasers, and that methodology is seeping northward.
Feeling that way, we were happy to see a private member’s bill by Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece that aims to reform joint and several liability provisions in law. In essence, if numerous parties were sued, it is currently the one with deepest pockets that pays the bill – often despite a finding of minimal responsibility.
This has long been an issue for municipalities. Apart from the Koebel brothers of Walkerton, who doctored up records for water testing in that small town, we have yet to meet a public worker who took the lives of the public for granted. It has been our experience that workers take their roles seriously and consider the safety of the public 99% of the time.
It is that 1% of the time that is literally killing small centres when it comes to insurance coverage. Rates have gone through the roof, in large part due to a system of having the municipality or party with financial resources cover up the shortfall for a group with limited means.
Among the examples Pettapiece cites as background to his resolution is the case of a young driver versus the Elgin County municipality of Dutton-Dunwich.
The plaintiff, a young, inexperienced driver with a G2 license was not wearing a seatbelt and had been drinking beer in the car. He drove through a clearly visible stop sign at the posted speed limit of 80km/h on a rural gravel road, lost control of his vehicle, hit a concrete culvert and sustained a severe brain injury. His passenger was also injured. Courts determined that since drivers in this area had a habit of running stop signs, the municipality should have had better signage, and was found liable to the extent of 50%.
In another case cited by the MPP, the municipalities of Scugog and Oshawa were found about 66% liable for an accident on a boundary road. The driver’s $1-million automobile policy was insufficient to settle the claims made by injured passengers and the case ended up costing the municipalities more than $20 million.
While this private members bill has many hoops through which to pass, this is a positive step after years of quiet mumbling in municipal circles about the unfair outcomes from court cases.
