Not so rugged North dept.: Snow removal contractors across Canada are struggling with rapidly rising liability insurance premiums. “Rates for snowplowers have gone up about 500 per cent over the past two years,” said Rocco Scarano, a broker with Dynes Insurance Brokers in Richmond Hill. The reason, say those involved, is the growing willingness of claimants to blame the contractors for slip-fall incidents. “Slip and falls are anathema to the snowplowing industry because everybody thinks they should get 30 grand for a slip and fall. These settlements individually aren’t huge, but cumulatively, they’re hugely costly,” said Catherine Swift of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (“Slip-and-fall lawsuits on the rise”, Canadian Press/CTV, Jan. 19)
Posts Tagged ‘Canada’
Satanic abuse trials
Canada had them too, in places like Saskatoon and Martensville, Saskatchewan. Colby Cosh elucidates (“Which witch will we hunt next?”, National Post, Jan. 2)(his weblog)(our earlier coverage: Sept. 4, 1999, Apr. 17, 2001, etc.). More: Gerry Klein, “Saskatchewan not sorry for malicious prosecution: Family accused of sadistic child abuse”, CanWest/National Post, Jan. 9.
Holiday break; Vancouver radio
I’ll be enjoying the holiday for the rest of the week, so postings will come either from Ted Frank or not at all. See you next Monday, most likely. Also, I’m scheduled to appear as a guest next Monday (Dec. 29) on the Bill Good show on Vancouver’s CKNW radio, at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time.
Canada: nine-year-old’s hockey suit
“Parents may stop helping out on their kid’s teams if a Springbank lawyer successfully sues volunteers within his own son’s league, says the head of minor hockey in Calgary. … Michael Kraik is suing the Springbank Minor Hockey Association because he says his nine-year-old son Alexander was deliberately placed on a weaker team due to favouritism from league officials for their own children.” The suit seeks C$50,000 and names two officials individually. (“Hockey crisis looms”, Calgary Sun, Dec. 19). Update Jan. 11: suit dropped.
Canada: curling accommodation demanded
A Winnipeg man with a bad knee has filed a human rights complaint challenging the refusal of curling authorities to permit him to use a “delivery stick” in competitions that would permit him to throw rocks without bending his knees. The devices have become popular among elderly and disabled curlers, but the Canadian and World curling associations (yes, there turns out to be curling outside Canada) have banned it as giving an unfair advantage, much as golf authorities in the U.S. tried to ban the use of golf carts as a substitute for walking until Casey Martin’s victorious Supreme Court challenge. (“New rule discriminates, says curler”, CBC, Dec. 10)(more on disabled-rights demands in sports competition)
Quebec: Anglophone dolls unwelcome?
“A 68-year-old grandmother in Aylmer, Que., is furious with Sears Canada after the company refused to ship her an inflatable talking toy meant as a Christmas present for her grandson because the doll does not speak French.” Shirley Hammond’s six-year-old grandson had been pleading for the Super Sound Socker Bopper Bop Buddy, which rocks back and forth and says, “Come on, I dare you!” and “Is that all you’ve got?” when hit. However, a salesperson for the retailer, which features the doll in its Christmas catalogue, declined her request. (Stefanie Arduini, “Unilingual doll can’t be bought in Quebec”, CanWest/National Post, Dec. 11; “Punch drunk pettiness” (editorial), Ottawa Citzen/Vancouver Province, Dec. 12). Four years ago (see Dec. 16, 1999), Quebec’s provincial language minister threatened legal action against the makers of Pokemon children’s collectible cards for allowing them to be sold in the province without French-language packaging and instructions.
In Inuit country, fear of U.S. lawyers
Arctic outfitters and small tourism operators in Nunavut, the far northern territory of Canada that is home to the Inuit people, are suffering the effects of a liability insurance crisis which is also affecting major landowners in the area such as Parks Canada and the Government of Nunavut. “These organizations are especially fearful of multi-million-dollar lawsuits launched in U.S. courts by aggressive trial lawyers on behalf of hurt or angry clients. ‘The landowner is always named in any lawsuit against a tourism outfitter, and as these organizations generally have the deep pockets, they will be targeted by the lawyers,’ Nunavut Tourism’s discussion paper says.” (Jim Bell, “Skyrocketing insurance batters tourism operators”, Nunatsiaq News, Nov. 28).
Canada: What it takes to get fired from a public service job
New Brunswick, Canada: “The City of Moncton thinks that showing up drunk at work toting a loaded, sawed-off shotgun in search of the boss is a firing offence. The city’s union disagrees. Seven days after George Pavlovsky was fired from his job as a senior tree cutter with the City of Moncton, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 51 filed a grievance to his employer challenging the dismissal.” Mr. Pavlovsky is unavailable for immediate service since he is currently serving a two-year prison term over the incident, but he “is hoping to get his job back when he is released.” (Shawna Richer, “Gun-toting, drunk Moncton employee grieves firing”, The Globe and Mail, Nov. 28)
“Doctors avoid close contact; fear threat of impropriety”
“The B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons says some doctors are reluctant to perform breast and genital examinations because they are worried patients will accuse them of impropriety. ‘Unfortunately, the fear of becoming the subject of a patient complaint has caused some to become reluctant to perform necessary breast and genital examinations, to the obvious detriment of the patient,’ the college says in its annual report.” Some evidence indicates that rates of invasive cervical cancer may be markedly higher among women from ethnic groups with a high cultural aversion to pelvic exams. “Although less than 25 per cent of complaints result in formal disciplinary proceedings and penalties, the college has observed the mere threat of an accusation has meant ‘a significant number of women in this province are not receiving proactive preventative screening for breast and gynecological diseases.'” (Pamela Fayerman, CanWest/Calgary Herald, Aug. 27).
Vancouver radio tonight
Our editor is scheduled to appear this evening at 8 p.m. Pacific time on Vancouver’s CKNW, am 980, with host David Berner. The main topic on the agenda — is Canada going the litigious way of the U.S.? — plays off a feature article that ran yesterday in the Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen and other CanWest newspapers but doesn’t seem to be online yet.