On February 2, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ordered the winding-up of Union of Canada Life, saying that the life insurer has insufficient capital to ensure long-term viability.

Grant Thornton Limited has been appointed by the court as liquidator.

“The company faced unique challenges, business risks and insufficient capital to ensure long-term viability, which caused it ultimately to seek court protection,” said a statement from Grant Thornton.

“We will be focused on arranging the transfer of the policies to another life insurance company expeditiously in order to ensure the policyholders continue to be served seamlessly.  In the interim, operations of Union of Canada Life will continue from its head office in Ottawa”, said Michael Creber, the Grant Thornton partner in charge of the liquidation.

Union of Canada Life, incorporated in Ontario, services approximately 22,000 policies across Canada with most policies being in Quebec.

The Liquidator will be working closely with Assuris, the not for profit organization that protects Canadian policyholders in the event their life insurance company fails.  In general, during the transition period, policies will continue and benefits will be paid.  It is also anticipated that the policyholders will suffer no loss of benefits.

“However, if full recovery of policyholders’ benefits is not achieved in the transfer process, Assuris is committed to providing its protection to all policyholders” said Gordon Dunning, President and CEO of Assuris.

“Union of Canada Life was faced with unique challenges that caused the company to seek court protection,” Dunning added. “Our analysis indicates this company had extremely high strategic, market and operational risks and insufficient capital to ensure the long-term viability of the company in a low interest rate environment.”

“The Canadian life insurance industry is very stable,” Dunning said, “and Canada has one of the best regulatory systems monitoring financial institutions. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has been closely monitoring Union of Canada Life and has kept Assuris fully informed of all developments.” He added, “Assuris and FSCO’s priority has been, and continues to be, the protection of policyholders.”

All policyholders will be receiving a letter directly from the Liquidator on how their respective benefits are protected.  Other parties affected by the liquidation order will also be receiving a separate letter.  In the interim, policyholders are advised to continue paying their premiums as usual in order to ensure there is no interruption in their insurance coverage.

Policyholders with questions can visit www.GrantThornton.ca/Union_Canada_Life, call the Liquidator Information Centre at 1-855-390-4200 or email the Liquidator at Union_Canada_Info@ca.gt.com.

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A former BP employee has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company, claiming he was fired for airing concerns about the cleanup after the 2010 Gulf oil spill – the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

In a federal suit filed last Friday in New Orleans, August Walter claims one of his BP bosses manipulated data on shoreline cleanup in Mississippi and didn’t give the U.S. Coast Guard “the true status” of what substances needed to be cleaned.

Walter, who helped develop BP’s cleanup plans in Mississippi after the 2010 spill, claims that he was fired last month in retaliation for saying that BP wasn’t following environmental regulations and was “picking and choosing what oil to pick up.”

Walter also says he refused to misrepresent data so that the Coast Guard would believe cleanup activities in Mississippi were closer to completion.

“This was all based on money and had nothing to do with actually cleaning up the oil or meeting the (Shoreline Treatment Recommendations) or environmental requirements,” the lawsuit alleges.

BP spokesman Tom Mueller said the company doesn’t believe Walter’s allegations have merit but will investigate “consistent with our personnel policies and code of conduct. “

“We believe we have demonstrated good faith in meeting our obligations in the Gulf and are committed to treating our employees fairly,” Mueller said in a statement.

BP said in November that it had spent $13.6 billion on the response, including its efforts to clean up 635 miles (1,021 kilometres) of Gulf Coast shoreline affected by the spill. By then, more than 90 per cent of the affected area had “met the agreed upon standards” for transitioning from the cleanup phase to coastal restoration, BP said.

Walter’s lawsuit claims BP took “short cuts,” with one BP official allegedly saying BP only would clean up tar balls and not smaller oil debris.

The allegations in Walter’s suit are limited to BP’s cleanup in Mississippi. The company implemented similar plans in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida after the April 2010 blowout in BP’s Macondo well triggered a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and led to the oil spill.

You might also be interested in: In a WikiLeaks world, what’s the status of whistleblowing in Canada? 

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Vancouver police have recommended 63 new charges against 20 new suspects in the Stanley Cup riot. The third round of charges brings the total recommended by the Vancouver Police Department to the Crown to 278. One hundred rioters now face charges.

“My message to rioters is simple: If you think you got away with what you did on June 15th you’re mistaken. The victims haven’t forgotten and neither have we,” said Inspector Les Yeo, Integrated Riot Investigation Team, in a statement.

The first round of charges, recommended to the Crown on October 31, 2011, saw 163 criminal charges against 60 suspected rioters.   The second round, recommended on December 19, 2011, saw 52 charges recommended against 20 suspected rioters.

The Crown has approved 78 criminal charges against 30 suspected rioters; all 30 have either turned themselves in or been arrested. Round 3

Of the 100 suspected rioters:

• 85 are men and 15 are woman
• average age is 21 years
• youngest male is 15 years of age
• oldest male is 52 years of age
• youngest female is 17 years of age
• oldest female is 27 years of age
• most charges recommended against one individual:  10
• young offenders (under 18 years old):  20

(All ages calculated at the time of the riot, June 15, 2011)

One hundred charges are being recommended for participating in a riot, 82 for mischief, and 20 for break and enter. (Some individuals may have multiple counts of the same criminal charge.)

The VPD provides examples of third round of charges recommended:

15 year old young offender from Surrey

Criminal charges are being sought for a 15 year old young offender from Surrey, whose crime spree started around 7:30 p.m. in the 300 block of W. Georgia.  He helped flip over a parked car onto its side, then stole an item from the trunk of this vehicle.  The youth moved down a block and pushed over a portable toilet. An hour later in the 600 block of Cambie this same young man was seen smashing at a police vehicle with a metal fence connector. He has no criminal record.

LOCATION

300 block W. Georgia Street

CHARGES

• participating in a riot

• mischief (3 counts)

• theft under $5,000

19 year old man from Surrey

A 19 year old Surrey resident attending university in Kelowna was back in town during the night of the riot. Just before 8:00 p.m., he was seen in the 300 block of W. Georgia kicking at a car; in the same block, he joined others as they tried to flip over a parked truck.  Video surveillance showed him lighting papers on fire, then throwing the lit articles into the cab of the truck.  To investigator’s disbelief, on two occasions he was seen flicking lit cigarettes at the pool of gas that was leaking from the overturned truck.  Fortunately, the gas didn’t catch fire averting any explosion or serious injury.  IRIT team members were just in the process of making arrangement to attend his campus to arrest him when he contacted investigators. The accused has no criminal record.

LOCATION

300 W. Georgia Street

CHARGES

• participating in a riot

• arson

• possession of an incendiary material

• mischief (two counts)

45 year old man from Vancouver

Charges of participating in a riot, assault, mischief over $5,000 and mischief under $5,000 are being recommended against a 45 year old Vancouver resident. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., he was seen in front of the bank trying to smash windows with a hockey stick.  He then went around punching a number of random people in the head.  Still unsatisfied, this same man was seen an hour later helping others flip over a parked car in the 500 block of Richards Street. The accused is well known to police and has an extensive criminal history dating back to the early eighties.

LOCATION

400 West Georgia Street

CHARGES

• participating in a riot

• assault

• mischief (two counts)

You might also be interested in: Restoration company there for The Bay after Stanley Cup riots 

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A 38-year-old Scarborough, Ontario man has pleaded guilty to his role in an elaborate insurance scam that defrauded insurance companies out of $1.5 million.

On Friday, Uthayakanthan Thirunavukkarasu, also known as Max or Mano, admitted to participating in a criminal organization, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and fraud charges for a total of 17 charges related to 13 separate staged accidents.

Thirunavukkarasu and his group – including, at times, as many as 40 members – would search salvage yards for vehicles that had been written off after a legitimate accident. A mechanic would issue fraudulent documents stating that the vehicle had been repaired and a member of the group would register and insure it.

The court heard that participants were paid up to $2,000 or promised to be cleared of debts if they drove the vehicle into another and made fraudulent property damage and injury claims with the insurer. A series of physiotherapy clinics controlled by the organization would bolster those injury claims.

Police said they became suspicious after noticing that one crashed vehicle had been driven only one kilometre since its previous crash.

In May 2007, one of the staged accidents did not go according to plan. A driver was instructed to drive a van filled with five accomplices into a Toronto intersection, where it would be hit by a tow-truck driven by another group member. All of the van’s passengers were to exit before the tow-truck hit, but none of the passengers were able to get out before the impact. One teenager suffered permanent brain injuries in the collision.

Thirunavukkarasu will be sentenced in March.

You might also be interested in: How to avoid staged accidents 

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MADD Canada says an increase in impaired driving charges throughout the holiday season show that there’s a strong need for random breath testing across the country.

MADD points to the following sobriety checkpoints statistics as evidence that some drivers have not yet learned to abstain from drinking and driving:

• The 551 warn range suspensions handed out by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are down from 2010. However, the number of criminal impaired driving charges laid by the OPP this holiday season more than doubled, jumping from 308 in 2010 to 652 in 2011.
• In Manitoba, the RCMP checked fewer vehicles during this year’s holiday campaign, but the number of charges increased, from 120 in 2010 to 141 this year.
• Peel Regional Police in Ontario charged 48 more people with impaired driving offences and issued 77 more warn range suspensions this year than they did last year.

Unfortunately, the checkpoint numbers show that a high number of people are still driving impaired,” said Denise Dubyk, MADD Canada’s National President. “These drivers still think the likelihood of getting caught is low and so they take the chance. That’s why the need for random breath testing is stronger than ever.”

The advocacy group is calling for the Canadian government to introduce random breath testing legislation in order to reduce instances of drunk driving.

“MADD Canada has done a great deal of research and analysis on random breath testing,” Ms. Dubyk said. “This is a tool that will save about 248 lives and prevent about 14,624 injuries every year, and it will save Canada about $4.3 billion annually.”

A random breath testing law would allow police to demand a breath test from any driver. Current laws establish “selective breath testing”, since only drivers reasonably suspected of drinking can be tested.

Random breath testing has been in use in parts of Australia, New Zealand and Europe for many years. In 2004, the European Union recommended that it be part of every EU nation’s traffic safety measures. The European Transport Safety Council says that such testing is now in use in 22 EU states. The logistics do vary: In Ireland, RBT is only used as part of an organized checkpoint whereas in Australian states, any police officer can require any person that the officer has reasonable cause to believe was driving a motor vehicle to provide a breath sample.

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Google has been fined €50,000 (CAD $64,975) for an autocomplete suggestion when users searched for a French insurance company.

Insurance company Lyonnaise de Garantie took the search engine giant to court after it discovered defamatory statements appeared when it was searched.

When a person typed “Lyonnaise de g” into Google search, the suggestion of “lyonnaise de garantie escroc” (in English, roughly “lyonnaise de garantie crook” or “lyonnaise de garantie scammer”) automatically appeared. The suggestion appeared for users using google.fr (France), google.be (Belgium), google.uk (United Kingdom), google.es (Spain), google.it (Italy) and google.ca (Canada).

Lyonnaise de Garantie saw this as “intolerable and clearly unlawful to its reputation” and asked Google France to remove the suggestion.

Google said its autocomplete function is based on an automatic algorithm and did not come from human thought. On its website, Google uses the following as an example of its autocomplete function: “As you type within the search box on Google, our autocomplete algorithm offers searches that might be similar to the one you’re typing. Start to type [ new york ] – even just [ new y ] – and you may be able to pick searches for “New York City,” “New York Times,” and “New York University” (to name just a few).”

In addition to the fine, Google must remove the term from any searched related to Lyonnaise de Garantie.

Click here to read the court’s decision (in French.)

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Todd Bertuzzi, a one-time Vancouver Canucks power forward, has dropped his former coach Marc Crawford from a third-party liability lawsuit.

The lawsuit stems from the March 8, 2004 game in which Bertuzzi illegally punched Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore in the back of the head, causing him to fall. Other players from both the Canucks and the Avalanche fell on top of Moore, who was knocked out and lay motionless for more than ten minutes before being taken off of the ice on a stretcher.

Moore suffered three fractured neck vertebrae, cuts and a concussion and has not played hockey since. The Harvard graduate has not worked in any other professional capacity since the incident. He is suing Bertuzzi and the Canucks for about $38 million for lost income he says he has suffered as a result of his injuries. Crawford is not named in this suit.

Bertuzzi had argued that Crawford’s negligence as coach contributed to the play on the ice that led to Moore’s career-ending injury and filed a third-party suit against the coach. In an earlier game that season, Moore had injured then-Canuck Markus Naslund, who missed three games. Crawford denied any contribution to the incident, stating that he had ordered Bertuzzi to come off of the ice before the incident.

Bertuzzi’s lawyer Geoffrey Adair has confirmed that the hockey player has dropped his former coach from the third-party suit, meaning Crawford, now a broadcaster, is no longer liable for any damages in Moore’s case.

The National Post reports that Crawford was covered under the Canucks’ insurance policy for damages in Moore’s lawsuit. However, Crawford could be liable for a share of the damages if a court awarded more than the policy limit of $10-million, plus $1-million in legal fees.

Bertuzzi, now playing with the Detroit Red Wings, pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the incident. He received a sentence of probation and community service.

He is not covered under the Canucks’ insurance policy for criminal acts and is personally liable for damages.

The trial is set to begin this fall in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, either in September or October, depending on whether Bertuzzi is still playing hockey in the NHL.

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The Ontario government has scored a victory in its ongoing battle to recoup $50 billion in health-care costs from tobacco companies.

The province launched a lawsuit against a group of 14 Canadian, American and British-based tobacco companies in 2009 to help recover costs of treating people with smoking-related illnesses.

The tobacco companies argued the province did not have the jurisdiction to sue them, but this week the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed their objections, so the lawsuit can proceed.

Ontario’s statement of claim alleges the tobacco companies knew about the addictiveness of cigarettes and the health damages they caused, and deceived the public by misrepresenting the risks.

The province also claims the tobacco companies promoted cigarettes to children and teens and failed to warn the public about the dangers of smoking.

The claims have not been proven in court.

Rob Cunningham, a lawyer for the Canadian Cancer Society, applauded the court decision Friday.

“It’s a big win for the Ontario government,” he said. “It’s a big defeat for the tobacco industry.”

“This judgment by the Ontario court is very similar to earlier judgments by the courts in British Columbia and New Brunswick on the same issue.

“In some of the other provincial cases, the foreign parent companies tried to be removed as defendants but were unsuccessful and now they’ve been unsuccessful in Canada’s biggest province.”

The Ontario government says smoking costs the province’s health-care system $1.6 billion each year, and is the number one cause of premature death and illness in the province.

The province passed legislation in 2009, the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, to allow the government to sue for recovery of past, present and continuing tobacco-related damages.

It also created a method to determine the costs associated with tobacco-related illnesses and allocated liability by market share.

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Today’s guest post comes from BC injury claims lawyer Erik Magraken.

Relationship Breakup Following Collision “Too Remote To Create Liability”

Reasons for judgment were released last month by the BC Supreme Court, New Westminster Registry, finding that a claim for damages for a break-up of a relationship following a collision is too remote for liability.

In last week’s case (Shinkaruk v. Crouch) the Plaintiff was involved in a 2006 collision.  He was found 20% at fault for the crash with the Defendant shouldering 80% of the blame.  The Plaintiff had “a significant history of low back pain” and this pre-existing injury was aggravated by the collision.  He was awarded damages for this aggravation.

During the period of aggravation the Plaintiff experienced difficulties with his partner and eventually she asked the Plaintiff to leave.  The Court found that this event was too remote to attract damages and in doing so Madam Justice Saunders provided the following reasons:

[59] It was apparent from Ms. Wahlwroth’s description of their interaction with each other, during the period in which Mr. Shinkaruk was convalescing from the accident, that their disagreements were largely a function of the two of them having very different visions of their roles and responsibilities within their relationship. It may be that these differences did not become manifest when the two of them had different working schedules. But with Mr. Shinkaruk at home in the evenings, she testified that she found it difficult to have him there without him making any contributions to the housework, making meals, cleaning up dishes, and doing other tasks which she felt he was physically capable of. She contrasted his lack of contribution with efforts made by husbands of friends of hers, when the couples had dinner together. Their differences were compounded by their poor communication skills, and they became trapped in a cycle of angry arguments, sniping and a lack of mutual respect. This climaxed during the December 2006 family vacation, when they spent little time in each other’s company, and had heated arguments when they did. She did not want her 13 year-old son exposed to that kind of behaviour, and that was a key consideration in her asking Mr. Shinkaruk to leave. These communication problems are issues which, she testified, they have both done a lot of work on recently and now that they are seeing each other again, there is a greater deal of emotional maturity being exhibited by both of them.

[60] It appears from the evidence that the most that could be said is that the motor vehicle accident contributed to the breakup in that it created a living situation, with Mr. Shinkaruk at home convalescing, in which fundamental and deep-seated issues between this couple became manifest. To the extent that Mr. Shinkaruk may have suffered emotionally or psychologically due to their breakup in December 2006, the defendant’s negligence is too remote to create liability.

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In May 2011, Travis Magdalena Scott pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering for his role in defrauding an insurance company out of at least $7 million by submitting false claims.

The FBI said that in his plea agreement, the 34-year-old Eden Prairie, Minnesota man admitted that from June to December of 2008, he submitted false insurance claims to Zurich North America and then used the proceeds for personal gain. Scott had an insurance policy with Zurich North America for his business, Security Management Technologies. The insurance policy covered both the property of the business, which included supercomputers, and business interruption due to loss of use of that property. If the property was damaged, Scott had the option of taking the “cash value of the property,” as determined by Zurich, or a “replacement option,” which entailed replacing the property up to the policy limit of $9.5 million.

On June 1, 2008, approximately one year after obtaining the insurance policy, Scott reported to Zurich that his business had been struck by lightning and had sustained significant damage. Scott also told Zurich he wished to exercise the “replacement option” on his policy for up to the $9.5 million policy limit. Later that month, Scott began ordering replacements for the damaged supercomputers. He subsequently represented to Zurich that a new computer system had been delivered, and based on those misrepresentations, the company delivered three cheques to Scott, totaling approximately $9.5 million. However, Scott did not use the insurance money to buy replacement computers but, instead, kept it and used it for personal gain, including the purchase of a Beech aircraft.

Zurich also paid Scott more than $1.9 million for business interruption. That figure was based in part on the profits of Scott’s company, as reported in his 2007 tax return. The tax return Scott gave to Zurich, however, was falsified. In total, Scott admitted he is responsible for losses to Zurich of between $7.1 and $10 million.

Scott faced a potential maximum of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud charge and another 10 years for money laundering. However, before his sentencing date arrived, local Sheriffs conducted a search for Scott after they found a kayak containing a suicide note, purporting to be written by him.  No body was ever found.

In late December, workers at a south Winnipeg called local police after a man was suspected of trying to fill a forged prescription. The man was found with multiple forged prescriptions and identification in several different names. Upon investigation, the police discovered this man was in fact Travis Scott. At an ensuing investigation and search, officers seized $35,000 in Canadian and U.S. currency, along with gold coins valued at $85,000, an electronic control device and bear spray.

Police believe Scott entered Canada by flying a small plane from Minneapolis to St. Andrews, Manitoba in September. Flights from the United States are not supposed to land at the St. Andrews Airport because it doesn’t have customs services.

Scott now faces multiple charges in Winnipeg, including possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possessing a loaded and restricted weapon and four counts for forged documents, said Winnipeg police. Officers say they have been in contact with U.S. Marshalls who are initiating extradition proceedings.

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Last week, a federal district court in Manhattan entered a ruling that reveals new facts about Iran’s support of al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks.  U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled on December 22 that Iran and Hezbollah materially and directly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11 victims who are plaintiffs in the case.

Judge Daniels had announced his ruling in Havlish, et al. v. bin Laden, et al., a $100 billion lawsuit brought by family members of victims, in open court on December 15, 2011, following a three-hour courtroom presentation by the families’ attorneys.  Judge Daniels entered a written Order of Judgment on December 22 backed by 53 pages of detailed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

Fiona Havlish, whose husband Donald perished in the World Trade Center North Tower on 9/11 said, “This is a historic day.  For ten years we’ve wanted the truth to be known about who was responsible for our losses.  Now we have that answer.”

Ellen Saracini, the wife of United Airlines 175 pilot Victor Saracini, which the hijackers crashed into the WTC South Tower, said after the hearing last Thursday, “We just came from Judge Daniels’ court where he ruled in favor of holding accountable those who perpetrated the attacks of 9/11… I just smiled up to Victor and I said we’re still thinking about you … we’re there for you … we’ll always be there for you.  But today’s very special.”

In Havlish, et al. v. bin Laden, et al., Judge Daniels held that the Islamic Republic of Iran, its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Iran’s agencies and instrumentalities, including, among others, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”), the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (“MOIS”), and Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah, all materially aided and supported al Qaeda before and after 9/11.

“The families have waited a very long time for this day and they have been through a lot.  So I was greatly relieved that the families received an answer to the question that they asked me ten years ago: they asked who was the responsible party?  How did this happen?  Today a federal court judge has said that a principal responsible party is the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Thomas E. Mellon, Jr. of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, law firm of Mellon Webster & Shelly, the lead attorney for the Havlish plaintiffs.

Iranian state TV reported that Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, insists al Qaeda has no presence in the country. The Ministry is said to have referred to the judgment as “clumsy scenario-making” by the United States and rejects claims that the country is liable in the terror attacks.

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The insurance company for Jerry Sandusky’s charity, Second Mile Inc., says it does not have to pay for his legal defense.

Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University, has been arrested and charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of 10 young boys over a 15-year period.

New Jersey-based Federal Insurance Co., a subsidiary of The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, says that any illegal acts committed by Sandusky were not committed in his capacity as an official of Second Mile.

Sandusky founded Second Mile in 1977 to help troubled youths in Pennsylvania.

Second Mile’s insurance policy does provide for legal costs, said Federal but the company’s filing in U.S. District Court in Williamsport, Pa. says that paying for costs “arising from sexual assault, molestation” or abuse is “repugnant to Pennsylvania public policy” and should be barred.

Lawyers for Federal Insurance wrote “Pennsylvania courts have found that a person who sexually abuses a minor should not expect his insurer to cover his misconduct, particularly where the average insured purchasing insurance would cringe at the very suggestion that he was paying for coverage arising out of sexual abuse of a child.”

A spokesperson for The Second Mile told the Associated Press that the matter is between Federal and Sandusky.

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Poetic justice or too much time?
One Supreme Court judge has a gift of rhyme
Writing his decisions in pages of verse,
The judgment is a judgment, for better or worse

On December 21, Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge Justice J. Michael Eakin issued a rhyming option that reversed the insurance fraud conviction of a man who opened a bank account with a forged cheque from State Farm Insurance.

In his ruling in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v Daniel Goodson III, Justice Eakin released six pages of rhyming ruling in a series of stanzas, starting with:

In January, 2001, appellant’s car was in a collision.

His insurer totaled the aging New Yorker, then made a just division

of the value of the insurance claim, sending $6,289 to the lender;

the balance of $135, to appellant they made tender.

And thus the matter terminated, or so one might have thought,

but that was not to be, when Goodson’s later schemes were caught.

Appellant was unhappy with his meager share, we guess —

comparing the two payouts, his disbursement was much less —

so six months later, in July, Mr. Goodson would appear

at a branch of First National Bank, and there he made it clear

that he’d a check made out to him, which he innocently presented

to open a new bank account — “from State Farm,” he represented.

Read Justice Eakin’s full poetic decision here. (PDF)

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The Vancouver Police Department’s Integrated Riot Investigation Team (IRIT) has recommended to Crown Counsel 52 additional charges against 20 more suspected rioters. The charges stem from June 15’s post-Stanley Cup finals riot that devastated pasts of the city.

To date, the IRIT has forwarded 215 charges on 80 individuals.

“It’s been six months since the riot, and our efforts haven’t let up. I can assure the public that as we hold a further 20 accountable today, my team is hard at work preparing a third round of charges on even more rioters,” said Inspector Les Yeo.

My message to rioters who think they have gotten away with their crime spree: “We’re not backing off; more arrests and more charges are just around the corner.”

Sixteen men and four women are among the suspected rioters. The average age is 19, with the ages ranging from 15 to 27. Six of the 20 are under 18 years of age. While most of the suspects are from the Vancouver area (20 percent are from each Surrey and Burnaby and 5 percent are from Vancouver), there is one suspect from Lethbridge, Alberta and one from Blaine, Washington. The remaining are from other parts of British Columbia.

The IRIT has released examples of the second round of charges recommended, including:

A 24 year old man from Blaine, Washington:

Earlier in the day a 24 year old man came to downtown Vancouver to watch the hockey game with his friends. Once the game ended, and following an afternoon of drinking, the accused walked around the downtown core and watched the riotous crowd. Just after 10:00 p.m. he found himself in front of a store being looted in the 700 block of Granville St. Like many others, the accused broke into the store and stole a number of items. Unlike many others that night, this rioter allegedly had his surname emblazoned across his back on a hockey jersey.

For his role on June 15^th, charges of Participating in a Riot, Mischief and BNE are being recommended to Crown. The accused has no criminal record.

LOCATION

700 block of Granville St.

CHARGES

Participating in a riot

Mischief

BNE

A 17 year old woman from Surrey:

 Charges of Participating in a Riot, Assault Causing Bodily Harm, Assaulting a Police Officer and Obstructing a Police Officer are being recommended against a 17 year old woman from Surrey, B.C. Just after 7:30 p.m. in the area of Georgia and Homer Streets, police officers were keeping the crowd at bay as paramedics were treating an unconscious man. As they were doing so, bottles and debris were being thrown at them by the crowd. One particular woman refused to go around and opted to go through the area where the patient was being treated. After being warned numerous times the woman persisted and punched a police officer in the face. While being taken into custody, she spat at the member and kicked him in his leg. When another police officer came to assist, the combative rioter bit down on the second police officer’s arm, breaking skin. The accused is known to police, but has no criminal record.

LOCATION

Georgia and Homer St.

CHARGES

Participating in a riot

Assault causing bodily harm

Assaulting a police officer

Obstructing a police officer

You might also be interested in: First 61 Stanley Cup riot charges laid

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Today’s guest post is from BC injury claims lawyer Erik Magraken.

Defendant Not Liable For Collision Caused By Black Ice

Reasons for judgment were released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Chilliwack Registry, discussing the issue of fault for a crash involving black ice.

In this week’s case (Johns v. Friesen) the Plaintiff was a passenger in the Defendant’s vehicle.  The Defendant encountered black ice and lost control of his vehicle.  The Plaintiff was injured in this incident and sued for damages.  The value of the Plaintiff’s case was agreed to leaving the Court to deal only with the issue of fault.  Madam Justice Kloegman ultimately found that the Defendant was not driving negligently and dismissed the Plaintiff’s injury claim.  In doing so the Court provided the following reasons:

[35] In my opinion, this was an unfortunate case of accident that is not attributable to anyone. There is an insufficient evidentiary basis to find that the defendant Friesen was driving below the standard of care of a reasonable, prudent driver. In fact, the evidence established that although it was winter, the driving conditions were good. The Truck and tires were in new and excellent condition. The plaintiff and defendant Friesen were both well-rested. The road conditions were good the day before and that morning, both through Merritt and on the highway. There had been no warnings from any source of black ice. The black ice was invisible, and the defendant Friesen was driving at least 20 kilometers per hour below the speed limit.

[36] The standard of care of a driver in these circumstances is not one of perfection: Hadden v. Lynch, 2008 BCSC 295 at para. 69. The defendant Friesen admitted that he should not have braked, but braking in such a situation is an automatic reflex to try and regain control of a skidding vehicle. The plaintiff did not suggest that this automatic reaction of the defendant Friesen could be the sole foundation for a successful allegation of negligence.

[37] In conclusion, I dismiss the plaintiff’s case as having failed to show on a balance of probabilities that the plaintiff was negligent in the circumstances.

This case, along with the fast approaching winter season, makes this an opportune time to remind passengers injured in single vehicle collisions of the use their statement to ICBC can have on their injury claim.  My previous post addressing this topic can be found here.

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The new owners of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men were killed in an explosion agreed Tuesday to pay a record $210 million to cover fines, compensate victims’ grieving families and improve underground safety.

It is the biggest settlement ever reached in a U.S. mine disaster.

Under the deal, Alpha Natural Resources – which acquired the mine’s owner, Massey Energy, earlier this year – will not be charged with any crimes in the April 2010 blast at the Upper Big Branch mine as long as the company abides by the settlement, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said. But the agreement does not prevent individual employees from being prosecuted.

“No individuals are off the hook,” Goodwin said, adding that federal prosecutors are still investigating.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, meanwhile, was expected to brief the victims’ families and the media Tuesday on its final report on the cause of the disaster, the nation’s deadliest mining accident in 40 years. Federal investigators have blamed the blast on a combination of methane gas, a buildup of explosive coal dust and broken or malfunctioning equipment.

Criminal charges in the disaster have been brought against only one person so far: the mine’s security chief at the time of the blast, Hughie Elbert Stover. A federal jury convicted him last month of lying to investigators and trying to destroy mine records. He is awaiting sentencing in February.

The settlement includes $46.5 million in criminal restitution to the miners’ families, $128 million for cutting-edge mine-safety improvements, research and training, and $35 million in penalties for years of safety violations at Upper Big Branch and other mines operated by Massey.

Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield said the company co-operated fully with authorities and believes the agreement represents “the best path forward for everyone.”

“We’re particularly pleased that a substantial portion of the settlement is going towards furthering miner safety, which has always been Alpha’s guiding principle,” Crutchfield said. “We’re mindful that the Justice Department investigation arose from a terrible tragedy which took the lives of 29 miners. Our thoughts will always be with the fallen miners and our sympathies with their families.”

The $46.5 million in restitution aims to guarantee that the families of the 29 dead miners and two co-workers who survived the explosion each receive $1.5 million. Eighteen families of deceased miners have filed wrongful-death lawsuits, and eight of those already have settled with Massey. Nine other employees have sued, claiming emotional distress because of the explosion.

Those who accept the payout still can pursue lawsuits over the disaster, but the $1.5 million would be deducted from any future settlement or jury award.

For the families, the deal is about half of what Massey initially offered. Within a month of the blast, the daughter of one dead miner told The Associated Press that Massey was offering $3 million to each of the families.

One victim’s mother was furious that a deal had been struck.

“I have no intentions of settling with these people that have killed my son,” said Patty Quarles, whose son Gary Wayne was among the victims. “They need to be put in jail.”

Virginia-based Alpha will invest $48 million in a mine safety research trust and spend an additional $80 million to improve safety at all of its underground mines with the latest technology and equipment. The upgrades include sufficient workers and gear to coat mines with crushed limestone to dilute the coal dust created during mining.

The cutting-edge improvements also include digital sensors that continuously monitor air flow and methane levels; meters to measure coal dust levels; and emergency oxygen equipment, similar to what firefighters rely on, that would give miners an uninterrupted supply of air while trying to escape from an underground accident.

“This in several ways is a revolutionary resolution,” Goodwin said. “We wanted it to be something constructive and forward-looking.”

The settlement will also fund a West Virginia laboratory capable of testing technology under conditions that would be too dangerous to allow in actual mines.

In addition, Alpha agreed to review all its underground mines and correct any problems within 90 days.

Preliminary reports on the disaster by state and federal investigators have said that poorly maintained cutting machines caused a spark that ignited a small amount of naturally occurring methane and a huge buildup of coal dust. Malfunctioning water sprayers allowed what could have been a small flare-up to become an epic blast that travelled seven miles of underground corridors, doubling back on itself and killing men instantly.

The United Mine Workers union said last month that conditions were so dangerous that Massey executives and managers should be prosecuted for “industrial homicide.”

A disappointed and angry Clay Mullins, whose brother Rex died in the mine, said he was frustrated that all the money Alpha will spend under the settlement “basically benefits them and MSHA. It doesn’t help the families.”

Mullins said he and his family want to see criminal charges brought against executives at Massey, not just against low- and mid-level managers.

“It was an act of murder,” he said. “They murdered 29 men, and I’m not satisfied one bit.”

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Alberta’s justice minister says it’s full steam ahead for the government’s drunk-driving bill despite a court ruling striking down parts of similar legislation in British Columbia.

Verlyn Olson says proposed changes to Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act are different from the ones rejected Wednesday by the B.C. Supreme Court.

“We were very careful to watch what was happening in B.C.,” Olson said.

“We understood there were concerns there. We addressed those concerns and we feel very comfortable that our legislation does not have the same kinds of problems.”

Bill 26 was expected to pass third and final reading in the Alberta legislature Thursday but the debate continues and a decision is not expected until Monday at the earliest, piggybacks on a similar law passed last year in B.C. to deliver stiff administrative penalties to stop people from drinking and driving.

Both pieces of legislation go after drivers in two categories: those who drive over the Criminal Code limit of .08 blood alcohol content and those who are not criminally drunk but are in the impaired grey zone between .05 and .08.

B.C. drivers who are pulled over by police and blow over the legal limit in a roadside screening have their driver’s licences suspended immediately for three months. They also have their cars impounded for a month, get fined $500 and must pay to take a responsible driver course. Total fees are estimated at $4,000.

Drivers must also blow into a breathalyzer to confirm the roadside reading for a criminal charge to be laid. The roadside devices are not considered dependable enough to be used as evidence in court.

B.C. Justice Jon Sigurdson ruled in a test case that the roadside devices – and their inadmissibility in court – are sticking points.

Sigurdson said the province is using the roadside screenings as evidence to pile onerous fees and suspensions onto a Criminal Code charge before that charge is even laid. He suggested drivers are being penalized as if there were Criminal Code charges – but without the required charter safeguards.

“The 90-day licence suspension as well as significant penalties and costs are imposed on motorists who allegedly blow over .08, without those persons being able to meaningfully challenge the results,” said Sigurdson.

Alberta justice officials said their proposed legislation takes pains to make sure that any sanctions piled on top of a drunk-driving charge are based on legally admissible evidence.

Drivers who blow over .08 during a roadside screening would not face any sanctions from the province until results were confirmed on a breathalyzer and a Criminal Code charge was laid.

Once drivers are charged, however, the sanctions would be far more severe than in B.C. They would lose their driver’s licence until the case is resolved in court – a process that could take months or even years.

Opponents say that undercuts the presumption of innocence. They also point out that drivers who rely on their vehicles for a living would probably lose their jobs if they had to wait two years for trial.

Olson has said reducing drunk-driving deaths and injuries takes precedence.

Denise Dubyk, national president for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, praised the bill.

“It is a serious crime. It’s something that can be changed, and this government is going to change it,” she said.

The B.C. government says statistics show a 40 per cent cut in drunk-driving related deaths since its law was passed in September 2010.

The province said there were 68 deaths in the 12-month period ending this past September. An average for the same time frames over each of the previous five years was 113.

Both provinces have drawn up similar measures for drivers who are pulled over by police and register .05 to .08 on the roadside devices. Those numbers are considered to be not enough for a criminal charge but enough to have driving ability affected. They result in driving bans starting at three days – rising to a month for repeat offenders – along with vehicle seizures.

Civil libertarians and defence lawyers have argued those penalties are unfair given that they are based on a legally inapplicable roadside screening device.

Sigurdson said while the province is skirting very close to infringing on the Criminal Code, it has the right to impose the sanctions under its powers to license and keep roads safe.

NDP Leader Brian Mason said his party still has concerns about the proposal not adequately targeting those who cause most of carnage.

“A lot of the deaths and injuries due to alcohol-related driving are by people who are repeat or chronic drunk drivers over .08. Those are the things that need to be addressed,” said Mason.

Raj Sherman, leader of the Alberta Liberals, said the bill presumes guilt at the roadside and suggested there’s no need for the government to pass it in just eight legislature sitting days.

“We’re going to infringe on people’s civil liberties and access to justice,” said Sherman.

“You’ve got to think about it before you pass the law and rush it through before Christmas.”

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Almost six months after the Stanley Cup riot rocked downtown Vancouver, B.C.’s Crown counsel has approved the first charges. On October 31, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) recommended 163 charges against 60 individuals. On November 30, VPD announced that the counsel approved 61 charges against 25 people.

“We are now another step closer to holding suspected rioters accountable for their actions on June 15th,” said VPD Inspector Les Yeo.

Inspector Yeo, who heads up the Integrated Riot Investigation Team said, “We are very encouraged by the approval of these 61 charges and we will continue to work closely with the special prosecution team as even more charges are expected in the coming days and weeks.”

“The Integrated Riot Investigation Team would like to acknowledge the special prosecution team that has been hard at work reviewing Crown reports for the first 60 cases,” he added. “Having seen the incredible amount of work that went into the investigation on the front end, I realize what this Crown team was up against when we delivered the 163 charges for approval. Each report on each suspected rioter was well over 500 pages in length.”

To see the charges, see the following image: (Click to enlarge)

A total of 61 charges have been laid, including three counts of arson, following the Stanley Cup riot in June 2011

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In September 2010, British Columbia introduced some of the country’s strictest impaired driving laws. Some of the changes to the impaired driving laws included:

• Drivers who provide a failing breath sample above 0.08 per cent blood-alcohol content (BAC) or refuse to provide a breath sample at the roadside will face an immediate, 90-day driving ban and a $500 fine. As well, they will have their vehicle impounded for 30 days as part of the automatic roadside prohibition (ARP). Criminal charges may also be laid.
• Drivers caught once in the “warn” range (between 0.05 and 0.08 per cent BAC) in a five-year period will face an immediate, three-day driving ban and a $200 fine; a second time, a seven-day ban and a $300 fine; and a third time, a 30-day ban and a $400 fine. Research shows a BAC in that range means a driver is seven times more likely to be in a fatal crash than if they have no alcohol in their body.
• In addition, drivers who blow once in the “fail” range, or three times within five years in the “warn” range, will be required to participate in the rehabilitative Responsible Driver Program. They must also use an ignition interlock device, which tests a driver’s breath for alcohol every time they operate their vehicle, for one year.

Now, a B.C. judge has declared part of the impaired driving law as unconstitutional for turning police into a roadside judge, jury and executioner.

In a decision released on November 30, Justice Jon Sigurdson wrote: “The ARP [automatic roadside prohibition] legislation infringes section 8 of the Charter insofar as it concerns the prohibition, penalty and costs arising from the screening device registering a “fail” reading over 0.08,” he said. “This infringement is not a reasonable limit which is demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

“In my view, because of the significant prohibition, penalty and cost implications of a “fail” reading, the Province could easily have provided in the legislation a reasonable and meaningful review process where a driver subject to a lengthy automatic roadside prohibition could challenge the results of the screening device,” Justice Sigurdson continued. “This is particularly so considering the Province has legislated to base the consequences of a “fail” reading entirely on the results of the screening device.”

The challenge stemmed from a petition filed by Aman Preet Sivia, who was stopped less than two weeks after the new law came into effect last fall. Sivia was found to be in excess of the .05 blood alcohol restriction and was issued a roadside prohibition by police. Sivia applied to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles for a review of the decision but was denied.

Justice Sigurdson said the province is using the roadside screenings as evidence to pile “onerous fees and suspensions” onto a Criminal Code charge before that charge is even laid. He suggested drivers are being penalized as if there were Criminal Code charges – but without the required charter safeguards.

Total fees from the fine, impoundment and programs are estimated at $4,000.

“The 90-day licence suspension as well as significant penalties and costs are imposed on motorists who allegedly blow over .08, without those persons being able to meaningfully challenge the results,” he said.

Justice Sigurdson’s full ruling can be read online.

You might also be interested in: Impaired driving deaths drop in BC in the year since tough new laws imposed

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