Ches Crosbie Barristers Blog http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/ Ches Crosbie Barristers Blog en-us 2012 Ches Crosbie Barristers, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/ Thu, 17 May 2012 04:45:28 GMT Ches Crosbie Barristers Blog http://www.chescrosbie.com/images/logoprint.gif http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/ <![CDATA[15 Moose Seen Around St. John's Roads This Morning]]> CBC radio reported this morning that at least 14 or 15 moose had been sighted on or around roadways in the St. John’s area.  There was at least one traffic accident, although the driver was reported to have escaped without serious injury. 
As class counsel to the Moose Vehicle Class Action against the Newfoundland and Labrador government, we will receive the government’s complete document production by the end of May.  We are aiming to get testimonial evidence from government officials in the fall.
I received this comment from a class member today:

Thank you for the update, good luck with it all and I hope that everything works out and that you get what you are fighting for, which is our lives, thank you again for believing in a great cause.

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/15%2Dmoose%2Dseen%2Daround%2Dst%2Djohn%2Ds%2Droads%2Dthis%2Dmorning%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-81232 Thu, 10 May 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Save Our Moose versus Save Our People?]]> Moose v. People is not what the Moose-Vehicle Class Action is about.  With the right tools of conflict management such as fencing, with or without overpasses and underpasses, moose and people can have a far more peaceful coexistence.  This letter was sent by SOPAC co-chair Lucy Stoyles to the Newfoundland and Labrador Waterfowlers yesterday, and expresses this position nicely.

I write on behalf of the Save Our People Action Committee, which is concerned with the problem of moose vehicle collisions on our highways.

It has come to the attention of our members that your organization has an online petition respecting moose.  The description of the petition is:

"This petition is created for the preservation and sound management of our moose population.  We want our moose population protected from mismanagement and propaganda."

First, many of our members are committed waterfowlers and big game hunters, and support the aims of your organization.

Second, our members also support the goals of preservation and sound management of the moose population.  We are also against propaganda respecting moose and the issues they pose, and are in favor of science.

Although there is a relationship between moose densities and moose-vehicle collision rates, the densities that increase these rates are those along our major highways.  SOPAC is open-minded about innovative strategies which might reduce moose densities along the highways, while preserving moose populations in harmonious balance with the environment and for the enjoyment of nature lovers and sportsmen alike.

The choice is not between “save our moose” and “save our people”, rather it is to find solutions which address conflicts between moose and people, and save both.  Moose fencing is one example of such a solution.

I have spoken often with Ches Crosbie, Q.C., and he assures me that what I have outlined also reflects the approach of the plaintiffs in the Moose-Vehicle Class Action.

SOPAC would like to invite your organization to engage in dialogue respecting the moose issue in Newfoundland, and as a gesture of commitment to this dialogue, you may wish to publish this email on your website. 

We look forward to working on creative solutions to a common problem, the problem of maintaining healthy moose populations while minimizing moose-vehicle conflict.

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/save%2Dour%2Dmoose%2Dversus%2Dsave%2Dour%2Dpeople%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-79070 Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Deregulation the Real Reason Titanic Sank]]> Most people could give a pretty good answer to the question, what sank the Titanic?

Warned numerous times that he was steaming into a dangerous ice field, Titanic’s captain took no special precautions, stayed his course at nearly top speed, and retired to his stateroom.  And at 11:40 PM on April 14, 1912, Titanic struck an iceberg.  The berg opened a gash through Titanic’s steel skin running almost a third of her length.

And two hours and 20 minutes later, on April 15, 1912, with great loss of life, Titanic was gone—but not, of course, forgotten.

This version of the folly that sank the Titanic is reflected in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie by the same name, and it was the version accepted by the inquiries which followed the disaster.  Blame the captain.  But the real reasons Titanic sank, like the iceberg she struck, run far deeper.

By the 1890s vast profits were being made by shipping companies carrying freight and passengers between Europe and North America.  For all the vaunted luxury in which she coddled first-class passengers, Titanic was essentially an enormous ferry boat, built in a day when transatlantic passenger flight was an idle dream. 

Building on enormous successes in banking and industry in the United States, John Pierpont Morgan formed a plan to obtain an effective monopoly over North Atlantic shipping.  As part of his grand scheme, he acquired ownership of White Star Lines, and commenced an aggressive shipbuilding plan intended to crush the competition.

The size of ships had been growing at a rapid rate through the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th, and J.P. Morgan always thought big. 

He would build a fleet of blockbuster vessels 50 percent larger than the world had ever seen.  An awed public would flock to these great vessels, abandoning White Star’s competition.  Once the monopoly was firmly established, prices would rise.

But while shipbuilding technology was taking a giant step forward into the unknown and the untried, shipbuilding regulators remained stuck firmly in the past.

In the most well-known example of regulatory inadequacy, requirements for the provision of lifeboats remained decades behind the explosion in the size of passenger ships.  Titanic had enough lifeboat capacity for perhaps one-third of her full complement of passengers and crew.

The chief designer had planned for more, but this was overruled by White Star on the basis that they cluttered up the promenade deck, and only 20 were provided.  The law required no more.

Deregulation—or perhaps more exactly, lack of regulation—was responsible for much more than Titanic’s lethal lack of lifeboats.  The plan developed by shipyard designers called for the use of 1½ inch steel plates.  On instructions from owner White Star, the thickness of the plates was reduced from 1½ inches to 1¼ inches, and thinner rivets were used.

And although Titanic had a double bottom, it was decided not to give the world’s largest moving object a double hull.

It has been remarked that if J.P. Morgan wanted shipbuilder Harland and Wolfe to build a boat out of papier-mâché, the builder would have done it! 

It is a general principle of human behavior that business enterprises will maximize profits where opportunity presents.  If the regulatory environment allows costs to be saved which compromise human safety, then somebody will make these compromises.  So it was with the design and build of Titanic.

Had regulators required thicker steel plates and a double hull, there is a strong case that Titanic would have completed her maiden voyage to New York, and her brush with an iceberg would be a footnote in history, not the disaster which defined an age.

The origins of Titanic’s short but glorious life, and the story of her quick and nasty death, are told in compelling images and text in the public exhibit at the Johnson Geo Centre in St. John’s.

Next time you hear proposals for deregulation, give some thought to Titanic. 
 
 
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/deregulation%2Dthe%2Dreal%2Dreason%2Dtitanic%2Dsank%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-78734 Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Moose Population Frighteningly Low?]]> Environment and Conservation Minister Terry French warned us all on the weekend that the moose population is in decline, threatening economic interests.  Too bad the government does not count the rate of moose vehicle collisions as one of the indirect indicators of moose population. 

Because if they did use the moose vehicle collision rate as an indicator of the moose population, like other provinces do, the data might suggest the moose population is going up!

Of course, it would be nice to have the statistics for moose vehicle collisions from 2011 to see what they indicate.  I understand that government is changing their data management system and that the statistics for last year will not be ready until June!  In any event, the following exchange from Hansard today provides some insight into government’s thinking:


MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s East. 

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I guess if we are talking about leaders listening, we have a new leader now; and, believe you me, he is listening, so stay tuned. 

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Environment and Conservation who recently announced a frightening decline in the moose population on the Island.  On the Great Northern Peninsula, outfitters and residents have been saying publicly for some time that there are very few moose to be found in the area.  Mr. Speaker, many people in the area depend on the outfitter and tourism industry for their work in this regard; the moose population decline could lead to their jobs being in jeopardy.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister:  What is he doing to get a handle on this resource which he is charged with managing? 

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To analyze the moose population, it is certainly a significant one; you have the social carrying capacity, Mr. Speaker, which is certainly not lost on this government, and you also have the people like the outfitters who contribute $40 million to the economy of this Province.  So, obviously it is very, very important that we come up with a plan, and we have said that we were.  If you reference our Blue Book, a five-year moose management strategy, Mr. Speaker, it is in the works.  It is important I think that we consult and have a look at other countries throughout the world, including Scandinavian countries that deal with significant moose populations and deal with the socio issues and well as the economic issues.  

Mr. Speaker, we are working through that; we will have a plan in place hopefully for the next hunting season.

Thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for St. John’s East.

MR. MURPHY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For some time we have heard from groups deploring the fact that there were too many moose causing too many accidents on our highways.  Mr. Speaker, recently the minister made the startling comment that there are too few moose on the Island.  He called the population frighteningly low. 

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister:  Can he explain the apparent anomaly between the fact that there are too many moose on one hand and I guess in this regard not enough moose in other industries? 

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. FRENCH: Mr. Speaker, you cannot have it both ways.  You cannot be against the moose population and then in favour of it at the same time.  I do not mind a fellow speaking out of both sides of his mouth a scattered time, but this time is actually changing his clothes on this one, Mr. Speaker. 

I say to the member opposite, this is a very serious issue.  It is a unique balancing act we have to take into consideration.  That is why we are having a five-year moose management plan.  In the late 1990s, Mr. Speaker, there were 147,000 moose estimated here on the Province.  Right now we are down to 110,000 and another few thousand in our national parks. 

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

MR. SPEAKER: Unfortunately the time for Question Period has expired. 


]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/moose%2Dpopulation%2Dfrighteningly%2Dlow%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-78249 Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Possible Malpractice Claim]]> This was my advice recently to a possible client who has suffered greatly with infection acquired after surgery.

Many clients have difficulty understanding that a medical malpractice case has two distinct stages.  The first stage is investigation.  Until the records have been obtained and reviewed by appropriate experts and their advice has been received on breach of standard of care and causation, we do not know whether there is a case – although often times we may be very suspicious.

The second stage is the litigation stage.  If we are satisfied that the case has merit and financial arrangements are agreed as to fees and any assistance that a client is willing to give with disbursements (case expenses), then we issue a statement of claim and litigate the case. 

The amount required to give an adequate investigation varies, but is usually several thousand dollars.  Normally we ask the client to fund the cost of the investigation, because we really do not know if there is a case.  Occasionally, in a deserving case which may have large damages and appears promising, but the client is not capable of contributing financially to the cost of investigation, we will absorb these costs.

Here is the text of a recent letter which may help those who think they have been harmed by hospital or medical malpractice, to understand the process.

Thank you for our recent discussion. 

I have advised that we cannot know whether your claim is worth litigating until we have investigated it and obtained an opinion of merits.  In this case, the opinion of merits would presumably have to come from an orthopaedic surgeon.  A considerable volume of medical records would seem to be involved, and we would have to obtain medical records before doing anything else.  Because of the volume, I might first give them to a record review nurse to distill out the important facts and entries, given that busy specialists do not have the time to do this.  I would then ask the specialist to provide an opinion.

I have stated that we are willing to do this for the amount of $5,000.  Please remember that in-hospital infections are often difficult to identify in terms of breach of infection protocol.  Please note that you need to be aware of limitations, after which you cannot take action.  In general, time expires two years after a plaintiff knows or ought to know of the existence of a cause of action.  In your case, all we know really is that you have had a bad result due to infection.  Without an expert opinion, it is difficult to say that the infection was due to the fault of anybody.  Therefore, time probably has not begun to run, and would not run until we receive an expert opinion.  However, such determinations are never certain, and you should act as quickly as you can.  Please remember that we are not in a lawyer-client relationship until you have retained us by providing the requested deposit. 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/possible%2Dmalpractice%2Dclaim%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-78126 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[New Brunswick Court Fails to Apply Class Action Law]]> I recently received a decision from the Court of Queen’s Bench in Miramichi, New Brunswick which dismissed our clients’ application for certification as a class action.  The case concerned claims for mental distress on behalf of about 5,000 people whose pathology specimens had been misread, and 17,000 people whose tissue samples were reread.  About 1,000 patients may have suffered serious personal injury as a result of misdiagnosis.  In our Notice and Submission to the Court of Appeal to seek leave, we allege the Decision of the court is unintelligible, contains numerous contradictions, and fails to apply settled principles of law.  You can have an impression for yourself by reading the Decision.   
I explained some of the background to the case in an interview with CBC radio Morning Show.  What this decision shows is that now, even after 20 years of development of the law surrounding class actions, some courts still fail to apply it and perverse results occur.  One can only keep fighting in faith that the Court of Appeal knows the paramount importance of applying the law. 
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/new%2Dbrunswick%2Dcourt%2Dfails%2Dto%2Dapply%2Dclass%2Daction%2Dlaw%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-77762 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[VLT Class Action again under assault by Atlantic Lotto]]> Three years after the class action against Atlantic Lottery Corporation was commenced, it is again subject to preliminary motions to dismiss taken by defendant ALC, with the date set for certification hearing (whether the court will accept the proceeding as a class action) again thrown into doubt.

This time ALC has brought a motion alleging the plaintiffs have engaged in abuse of process.  I trust I am not the only one to see the irony in this. 

We got part way through the filing of affidavit evidence for certification hearing, which was to be in the second week of April this year, when progress was derailed by ALC’s motion.  It is now a certainty that the hearing will not take place as intended in April.  Provided the case management judge decides the motion within a reasonably close timeframe of two months or so, we should still be able to have the certification hearing in the second week of June.

I know many of you have endured considerable personal suffering in relation to predatory VLT gaming.  I can sympathize with your frustration at these delays.  However, we are doing everything in our power to push the case forward, while the defendant ALC does everything in its power to delay, and the courts are not places where you expect speedy progress.  Why shouldn’t ALC like delay – every day of delay is worth several hundred thousand dollars in profits.
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/vlt%2Dclass%2Daction%2Dagain%2Dunder%2Dassault%2Dby%2Datlantic%2Dlotto%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-77137 Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Moose Class Action Makes Progress]]> The Moose Vehicle Class Action is making steady progress toward being ready for trial by the end of 2012. 

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador agreed to provide its documentation which relates to the issue by the end of March.  It looks like we may go a week or two into April before we receive all the government documents, but completion of document production is pretty close on target.

On the plaintiff side, there is little document production that we can do except that which relates to the collision which each class member experienced.  We have obtained accident reports for the class members who have registered with us.  Unfortunately, government seems to have destroyed the data starting from about six years ago.  We have written to the insurance agent or company stated on the accident report, and asked them to preserve any files they may have in relation to an investigation of the collision.  We have also obtained the medical records for the two representative plaintiffs. 

Starting in May, we will be in a position to begin oral discovery of government witnesses.  After that, there would be an exchange of expert reports.  For example, Dr. Clevenger is our expert on the mitigation of moose vehicle collisions through measures such as fencing with/without overpasses/underpasses.  It will be interested to see what he thinks of the “pilot project” efforts of the Provincial Government with respect to fencing, and the much-criticized moose warning system. 

So we are on track to be ready for trial by the end of 2012, which means we should be able to start trial of the common issues in the first half of 2013.

Hey, while you’re here, have a quick look at my new website, dedicated exclusively to victims of motor vehicle accidents.
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/moose%2Dclass%2Daction%2Dmakes%2Dprogress%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-77055 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Class member fear of moose vehicle collision abates]]> With her permission, I post this poignant letter from a class member, which shows the fear and trepidation that so many of us live with when we travel the highways of Newfoundland.

I would like to add a little good news to the mix if I may.   

The background to my good news is, I had accepted a part time temporary position located in Carbonear last November, which took me off the highway driving back and forth to St. John's.  This change meant a half salary coming into our household, and the thought of resuming the St. John's drive again in October of this year.

Now here is my good news! This past Friday I was awarded a permanent full time position at the Carbonear General Hospital.  This position takes me off the highway to St. John's. I do, however, remain driving daily on the Veterans Memorial Highway. It is hard to put into words how my anxiety level has changed knowing that I do not have to drive back and forth to St. John's unless I want to make the trip.  I am very fortunate to have this change in my life, but it will not take away the fear I feel each time I travel on the highway.

My heart goes out to every person who has a moose vehicle accident -  thank you everyone for the continued work to keep SOPAC in the news.  With the government opening next week, maybe we need to sit in the gallery for a day to make sure all politicians know SOPAC is here to stay - just a suggestion!

Bye for now - have a great day! 
Jean  

 
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/class%2Dmember%2Dfear%2Dof%2Dmoose%2Dvehicle%2Dcollision%2Dabates%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-76376 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[The Ocean Ranger and the purposes of personal injury tort claims]]> Susan Dodd has made a significant contribution to our understanding of offshore disasters and the way in which we remember them, absorb their lessons, and move toward future challenges.  Her newly published book is called The Ocean Ranger: Remaking the Promise of Oil. 

This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of Newfoundland and Labrador offshore resource development, the extensive roadblocks to justice which can be raised by negligent corporate defendants, and the difficulties a brave band of Newfoundland lawyers, which included leaders of bar and bench such as Doug Moores and Leo Barry, faced down to secure a reasonable financial settlement for the families.

The Ranger disappeared beneath the seas on February 15, 1982.  Ms. Dodd’s book makes the point that 30 years after the disaster which saw the Ranger go down with all 84 hands lost, we still do not have a reliable way to get workers off a rig in trouble.

As Ms. Dodd records at page 88, under Newfoundland law the claims were limited to the economic losses the families suffered by reason of losing the financial contribution of their loved ones. Consequently, it was an exercise in valuing an economic dependency interest.  Compensation of a non-pecuniary nature for emotional losses and grief was not then available. 

Nevertheless Mr. Moores, Mr. Barry and other members of Newfoundland legal team were able to achieve wrongful death settlements at amounts which were unprecedented in Canada.  But at $20 million for the initial claimants’ committee settlement plus an undetermined amount the families who settled on their own, was it enough to achieve tort law’s stated objectives of punishment, deterrence and the vindication of rights?

Ms. Dodd interviewed me for the book and quotes my answer:

St. John’s personal injuries lawyer Ches Crosbie is engaged in a sustained public education and lobbying program to extend Newfoundland tort to include awards for losses that exceed the strict calculation of economic loss.  He is particularly adamant that we need to improve the capacity of Canadian courts to use tort law to “modify the behavior” of negligent corporations through awards for punitive damages.  Looking back, from a thirty-year vantage point, when I pressed the question of whether a $20 million settlement package paid by the insurance companies of ODECO, Mobil, Mitsubishi and the rest could in any sense be seen as contributing to their “modified behavior,” Crosbie says:  “at that amount, you would have to say they got away with it” (Crosbie 2011).


Now, with the amendments to the Fatal Accidents Act that emerged from the Breast Cancer Testing class action and the recognition of non-pecuniary claims for wrongful death, and with the advent of class actions, victims have improved tools to demand compensation that advances the goal of modifying the behavior of wrongdoers.  But for victims the playing field is not, and never will be even – just less steeply uphill.
 
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/the%2Docean%2Dranger%2Dand%2Dthe%2Dpurposes%2Dof%2Dpersonal%2Dinjury%2Dtort%2Dclaims%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-76158 Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Making a Case for Titanic]]> The Telegram has given a good summary of my talk at the Johnson Geo Centre on the Titanic and lawsuits. 
Yes, the Captain navigated the ship into ice-infested waters at nearly full speed, but much more contributed to this signature disaster of the twentieth century.

Only in the last 10 years, with the discovery of the shipyard archives, did it emerge that the ship owners contradicted shipyard design plans to reduce the number of lifeboats and the thickness of the steel plates on the ship.
The Telegram coverage of my talk is very good, with one exception:  the reason that the wealthiest families on board did not sue had to do with the mentality of the times with respect to lawsuits.  It was thought that one could not and should not put a price on the value of a gentleman’s life.

You be the judge.
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/making%2Da%2Dcase%2Dfor%2Dtitanic%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-76103 Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Infection Blamed for One Million Traffic Deaths]]> An infection carried by cats and transmitted to humans may be responsible for one million traffic-related deaths, according to a 2010 study.  Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite which infects the central nervous system of humans, and can manipulate human behavior.  A person can become infected by cleaning a cat’s litter tray, or by eating raw or undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables contaminated by cat feces.  Rates of infection have been found to be as high as 30% of the population in eastern Europe, but much lower in Canada and the U.S.

The failure to foresee danger in unsafe situations can be a by-product of the Toxo infection. 

Don’t ask me what to do about this, aside from being extra careful when cleaning up after kitty.  But next time you are amazed or outraged by flagrantly risky bad driver behavior, this could be part of the explanation!
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/infection%2Dblamed%2Dfor%2Done%2Dmillion%2Dtraffic%2Ddeaths%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-75618 Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Titanic and Personal Injury Suits]]>
My verse inspired by the Costa Concordia could be called “Captain Coward”. 

The passengers stood where the captain should
But the law of the sea is grim
When the Captain romped ere his ship was swamped
The law came after him!

This was inspired by the first verse of a longer ditty which a journalist of the day wrote about J. Bruce Ismay’s escape.  Ismay was an owner of the Titanic.  Unlike the captain, he did not go down with the ship.  It went like this:

The Captain stood where a captain should
For the law of the sea is grim
The owner romped err his ship was swamped
And no law bothered him.

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/titanic%2Dand%2Dpersonal%2Dinjury%2Dsuits%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-75175 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[More Moose Collision Stories]]> I sent out a story to class members about a lady who drove for thirty years without incident, and had three moose vehicle collisions in less than a year.  Miraculously, she was not hurt in any of them.  The story provoked the following comment from a class member:
 

I'm glad she wasn't hurt. My husband and I hit the moose on the TCH just past Refinery Road near Arnold's Cove December 4, 2009.  The moose went over the hood, shattered the front windshield, the hooves smashed the passenger side windows and the rear passenger window...the roof was peeled back like a can opener. Thankfully we weren't killed, I didn't have any cuts and bruises but am waiting for Eastern Health to make a decision on providing home care and I have just had to have new documentation completed at the doctor for a walker/wheelchair and other household assist appliances.

 
Your stories about highway traffic hazards and moose are always welcome.
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/more%2Dmoose%2Dcollision%2Dstories%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-73981 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Ches Crosbie versus the Moose]]> Ches Crosbie versus the moose of Newfoundland.  Mr. Crosbie filed a class-action lawsuit earlier this year against the province of Newfoundland on behalf of two victims of moose-vehicle collisions.  He claimed that “the province negligently failed to manage a moose population that is a public nuisance” (CTV News).  The government was named as a defendant, according to The Globe and Mail, because “it brought moose to the island a century ago as a source of meat” and “controls the moose population through the issuing of hunting tags”.  Mr. Crosbie estimated that there are “about 700 moose-vehicle collisions annually and perhaps two or three deaths” caused by moose weighing up to 1000 lbs.  Although Mr. Crosbie acknowledges that “when we launched this class action, most people in the province thought that we were a bit crazy”, an increase in the number of plaintiffs and Justice Richard LeBlanc’s recent support of certification of the case means that he is now involved in a “potentially precedent-setting class action” unlike any other in the country.
(The above appeared in a recent edition of the Canadian Rhodes Scholars Newsletter.  I reprint it for fun.)
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/ches%2Dcrosbie%2Dversus%2Dthe%2Dmoose%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-73839 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Titanic and Injury Claims]]> If you build a boat, the boat must float… or must it?  The band played on, but how did the lawsuit play out?  And would civil justice be any kinder today, some 100 years after the largest man made moving object on earth grazed an iceberg south of Cape Race, sinking forever into the pages of myth and history?  You be the judge… and jury!
That is the advertising summary – “blurb” if you like – I gave the Johnson Geo Centre in St. John’s to use for my presentation on the Titanic, to take place on the evening of Tuesday, February 7, 2012.  Lots of great video from YouTube!
What interested me as the hundredth anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking on April 15, 1912 approaches, is how did the legal claims fare that arose out of the Titanic disaster?  The short answer is not very well.  If the Titanic disaster occurred today, would the legal claims for compensation made by survivors, widows and orphans fare any better?

Come to the Johnson Geo Centre on February 7th, 2012 att 7:30 PM and find out!
]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/titanic%2Dand%2Dinjury%2Dclaims%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-72252 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Residential School Survivors Sue for Dignity Not Money]]> The decision of the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal yesterday to uphold the certification, or class action status, of actions brought on behalf of residential school survivors, is welcome news to the survivors and their legal team.

The Government of Canada is resisting the claims, saying that unlike in the provinces and territories outside Atlantic Canada, they did not have a hand in running the schools.  Yesterday’s decision recognizes that there is a case to be made that the Government of Canada is legally responsible for abuses at the schools.

These abuses ran the gamut from cultural abuse to physical and sexual abuse, and affect about 5,000 living residential school survivors and close family members.  Four of the schools were located in Labrador, and one in St. Anthony.

The Nunatsiavut Government knows that close to 4,000 of the class members are constituents.  Nunatsiavut is supporting the class actions, although Nunatsiavut is not formally a party to the actions.  Minister of Finance Danny Pottle was with me yesterday when we received the court’s decision.

Danny’s emotional response to the news that the class actions could go forward gave me a valuable insight into how Innu, Inuit and Métis view these claims.  Sure, the actions advance a claim for a remedy in money damages, because that is the only remedy which our system of laws has the power to grant.  But the actions have a bigger and more important dimension.

The class actions truly are about reconciliation between aboriginal peoples and the rest of Canadian society.  Access by aboriginal people to one of the critical levers of power in Canadian society – the legal system – can make even the least citizen the equal of a King.  Access to justice through the legal system may take aboriginal peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador several steps down the long road toward full and dignified participation, on their own terms, in the work-in-progress that is Canada.  How much greater will Canada be in the eyes of the world when this historic unfinished business is complete!

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/residential%2Dschool%2Dsurvivors%2Dsue%2Dfor%2Ddignity%2Dnot%2Dmoney%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-71917 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Mother makes plea from the heart on moose to minister]]> Dear Mr. Henderson,

I am Crystal Adams. My daughter Denika was killed in a moose/vehicle accident on April 29, 2010 by the Avondale overpass.

Denika was just 18 years of age and two weeks shy of her Grade 12 grad. Denika was a well-loved young lady, not only by her peers but by everyone that met her. Denika had so many dreams that she wanted to fulfil, but her life ended way too early because of a moose that had been on the highway for a period of two or three nights. It was bad enough to lose my daughter, but it is worse to find out that the accident could have been avoided if something had been done to get these nuisance moose off the highway. 

What I am writing about now is the fear that I now have of driving on our highways once the sun goes down.

Whenever I hear about another moose accident, it brings back all the memories of losing my daughter all over again. I get weak all over, fearing that someone else is going to have to go through what I have in the past 19 months. It’s like it’s all happening all over again. I have another daughter who now has a fear of driving on our highways at night. In this day and age, it is something that we should not have to worry about. I will not drive on our highways or be in a car after the sun goes down.

As for the sensor system that is now installed on the Trans Canada Highway, I feel it is in the wrong area.

I found it quite funny that, travelling west on the TCH about one kilometre west of the sensor system, there is a sign saying moose for the next six kilometres.

Shouldn't the sensor system be put in that area?

The system could be a step in the right direction, but there is not enough information being released on it.

When it was first described, I Googled the system and couldn't find anything about how it worked. I know that the lights will flash for a period of time. But what if the moose stays on the side of the road, and when the lights stop flashing, he decides then to go across the road? Will the lights keep flashing?

Do the lights also flash on the solar panels? If they don’t, how will we know if there is a moose in the road after we pass the warning signs?

How far is the sensor from the ground? What about when we have two or three feet of snow? Will  the sensors be up high enough to still be able to work?

Also, can the sensor pick up a small calf? Or do the moose have to be a certain size?

I feel that it is about time that everyone started working together to come up with a solution to get these massive animals off our highways. I can remember years ago, I would say  to myself “if it’s snowing, Crystal, don’t go.” Now I say “if it is after the sun goes down, Crystal, do not go on our highways.”

The fear of getting into a moose accident is too much for me. In the year 2011, the voters of this province should not be afraid to travel on our highways.

Crystal Adams

Shoal Harbour

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/mother%2Dmakes%2Dplea%2Dfrom%2Dthe%2Dheart%2Don%2Dmoose%2Dto%2Dminister%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-70978 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Pain of Remembering Loved Ones Killed in Road Accidents Helped by Optimism for Future]]> I was humbled to attend two events memorializing Canada’s national day of remembrance for road crash victims, last Wednesday, November 23. 

The first event was a wreath laying at the weigh scales just beyond the Foxtrap Access Road outside of St. John’s, which occurred at 1 PM.

The second was a ceremony at City Hall in St. John’s, which began at 6:30 PM.  The Telegram has done a lovely write up of this event. 

The occasions were somber, fraught by tragedy as they were.  However, as Canadians we may find cause for optimism in the future.  All levels of government have made a concerted effort to lower the death rate from auto crashes from the range of 4,000 a year, where it was in 1990, to the level of 2,011 fatalities in 2009.  Canada’s national strategy is to have the safest roads in the world, and lowering the fatality rate by 50% is an impressive move in that direction.

Coincidentally, our goal in the moose vehicle collision class action against the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is similar – at least a 50% reduction in the moose-vehicle collision rate over five years.  So I say that the results of government resolution to tackle a difficult and appalling problem – traffic fatalities – has shown good results when targets are set.  Let’s see our provincial government adopt the target of SOPAC and the class action – a 50% or more reduction in the moose-vehicle collision rate over five years.  If governments decide to do this, it will be done.  If they don’t, it won’t.

I would like to see our government adopt a goal of reducing moose vehicle collisions by 50% or more.  I will be meeting with representatives of safety advocacy groups this week to develop a plan of action which would embrace not only the moose collision issue but other safety initiatives which should be in the 5-year strategy for the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/pain%2Dof%2Dremembering%2Dloved%2Dones%2Dkilled%2Din%2Droad%2Daccidents%2Dhelped%2Dby%2Doptimism%2Dfor%2Dfuture%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-70115 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Moose Vehicle Impact Echos On]]> Jean Pike hit a moose.  She provided her friends on the Save Our People Action Committee listserv with a note describing the ongoing psychological consequences of this on her.  All of us who drive at night will understand:

As many of you know I have a permanent full time job in St. John's and have been driving back and forth daily since my return to work in August.  Due to my increased fear of driving home to Port de Grave after work I have taken a half time temporary position in Carbonear.  As much as I am happy to be working closer to home, I have taken a half salary for the next 11 months due to my fear of driving on the highway.  Once the temporary position is finished I will be returning to my position in St. John's.  This means the highway drive begins again.  The point of my rambling here, is to emphasize the impact a moose collision accident can have and how it impacts every aspect of our lives. 

As we get into the winter weather road conditions, and early nights, my wish for you is safe travels and happy times.

Thanks again for all of the work SOPAC executives and others involved do to help push ahead for highway safety. 

]]> http://www.chescrosbie.com/blog/moose%2Dvehicle%2Dimpact%2Dechos%2Don%2Ecfm www.chescrosbie.com-69929 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:00:00 GMT