Michael Lee: Horgan, Eby prioritize cost savings over needs of injured British Columbians
Michael Lee More from Michael Lee
Updated: May 17, 2019 10:04 AM PDT
"Eby's role as attorney general is to protect the individual rights of British Columbians. But he continues to constrain the legal rights of injured British Columbians to contain costs for ICBC," writes the B.C. Liberals' justice critic
Premier John Horgan is allowing one of his key cabinet ministers, Attorney General David Eby, to engage in a conflict of duties at the expense of injured British Columbians.
Eby's role as attorney general is to protect the individual rights of British Columbians. But he continues to constrain the legal rights of injured British Columbians to contain costs for ICBC, which he also oversees.
For the financially struggling Crown corporation's benefit, Eby has expanded the definition of minor injury to include concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries — even after telling stakeholders he would not do so. An estimated 80 per cent of all motor vehicle accident injuries fall into this expanded definition.
As of April 1, injured British Columbians now need to go online to resolve disputes for "minor" injuries through the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Imagine how arduous this process can be, especially for those with concussion or brain-injury claims.
It appears the rights of injured individual British Columbians are being stepped on for the sake of ICBC's continued cost challenges. Furthermore, the constitutionality of these legislative changes with the new minor-injury cap and the expanded jurisdiction of the Civil Resolution Tribunal is being challenged in B.C. Supreme Court through a civil claim by the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C.
Eby has also tried to change the court rules to limit the number of experts and expert reports that can be used, with a retroactive effect on existing cases. This would force injured British Columbians and their counsel to choose which expert reports to rely on. We're talking about individuals with complex claims that might involve brain injuries, spinal-cord injuries, internal injuries, psychological or chronic-pain issues.
Michael Lee is the B.C. Liberals' justice critic. Gerry Kahrmann / PNG files
With these limits on experts, British Columbians would not be able to fully present their case for damages and would need to choose which aspects of their case to prove and which to forego. It's worth noting that the Supreme Court of Canada has stated that a "prohibition on expert evidence violates the principle of natural justice of the right to be heard."
In the face of a constitutional challenge, the government passed an amendment to grandfather the expert-report rule for the remainder of 2019 so that it does not apply to any expert reports served in accordance with the Supreme Court Civil Rules before Feb. 11, 2019.
All of these measures also lead to a concern about the separation of duties for the attorney general in his role as the chief legal officer to the NDP cabinet. He is putting cost savings for ICBC ahead of the rights of the people he should be protecting.
This is part of a larger pattern by the NDP government to take away the rights of British Columbians through discriminatory practices such as forcing workers to join certain unions under community benefits agreements; taking away property rights from landowners under the proposed Agricultural Land Reserve changes; or paying unionized social services workers more than non-unionized workers.
All British Columbians have the right to be treated fairly and equally and deserve better than the treatment they are getting from Horgan and the NDP.
Michael Lee is the B.C. Liberal justice critic and MLA for Vancouver-Langara.
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