“Alberta has become the first province in Canada to enact legislation allowing children to sue their mothers for injuries suffered in the womb. But the law applies only to damage suffered in car accidents.” The idea isn’t really to foment legal strife between infants and their moms, but just to give the family a new way to tap its auto insurance policy, quite possibly with the support and connivance of the mother who will be the ostensibly adverse party in the case:
Jim Rivait, spokesperson for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says the new law is going to have an impact on insurance premiums right across the country.
“Any time you have an increase in claim costs, it has to flow through to what policy holders pay for auto insurance premiums,” said Rivait.
Not to mention the wear and tear on the principles underlying a legal system if collusive and tactical litigation comes to be winked at. (“New Alberta law will permit some lawsuits against mothers”, CBC/Sympatico-MSN, Dec. 3) (via KevinMD).
4 Comments
For context, this law arises out of a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision (Dobson (litigation guardian) v. Dobson) which held that a fetus (by its litigation guardian) can’t sue its mother in these circumstances. The effect of that case was that a fetus could sue anyone but the mother (for example, if the father was a passenger and the mother was driving, there would be no such bar). Alberta’s response is to do away with what it considers an anomalous exception rather than doing away with the right to sue entirely
Blawg Review #36
Blawg Review Incites Riot Over Best of the Blogs The Editor ‘n’ Chef (yes, Chef) of Blawg Review was NOT amused by the BOBs selection of best blogs. But no matter. December 26, 2005, gentle readers, is the Big Day…
Blawg Review #36
…is up at AutoMuse, and mentions our posts on immigration penalties and on suing moms in Alberta….
Sue Your Mom (If she’s a bad driver!)
From MSN Canada:
Alberta has become the first province in Canada to enact legislation allowing children to sue their mothers for injuries suffered in the womb. But the law applies only to damage suffered in car accidents.
Does that sound awfully har…