Moose Class Action Enters Heavy Lifting Phase

The provincial election is behind us and the government feels it will have public peace on the moose vehicle collision issue for a while.  The news media continues to report sightings and collisions with moose at a high pace, including a collision last week with a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary cruiser.  I guess the "blame the driver" types have rationalized the police collision, which happened well within St. John's city limits, as being due to excessive speed and driver inattention - their usual mantra! 

The heavy lifting phase of the lawsuit is the part where documents from the government must be read and officials and Cabinet ministers examined for oral discovery.  This phase is where plenty of legal legwork must be done, and it is critical to the success of most lawsuits.  It also takes some time to do.

By the time the House of Assembly opens next spring, we should know a lot more about how the evidence fits with our theory of the case.  When both sides are satisfied they are ready, the case can proceed to what is called a common issues trial.  The common issues trial will decide whether the government has to pay the class members, but not how much it has to pay the class members.  A lawsuit can settle at any time, but often not before the courthouse steps are reached.  The time this will take will be likely measured in years, not months, so members of the moose class action should be prepared!  We at Ches Crosbie Barristers will be working hard on this mass motor vehicle accident claim until settlement or judgment is reached. 

In the meantime, class members and SOPAC members alike can take some satisfaction in knowing that it is the actions we have all taken which have persuaded the government to stop sitting on its hands.  Without the class action, and without SOPAC's activism (ably assisted by Wanda Cuff Young), the government would not have increased moose licensing by 5,000 this year and would not have announced spending of $5 million on fencing and warning system pilot projects.  This success for the class action and for SOPAC is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.  And it bodes well for a successful end at the end!

Let us not forget.  Our purpose - our end - is not just much-needed financial help for those injured due to government neglect of the moose menace on our highways.  It is a minimum 50% reduction in collisions.  It can and must be done!