Published by ‘A’ News Victoria 30 January 2009

Rajinder Sahota’s worked on Bay Street and on Wall Street, for the privileged and the rich. Now, he’s seeing what can happen to clients without deep pockets. “Coming back to Victoria, it’s very obvious it’s an issue – the cost of litigation” says Sahota.

For the daughters of Gerald Foisy, who was killed in the 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North, the cost of litigation – $60,000 according to their lawyer – was just too much. They settled out of court yesterday, and have been denied closure about what happened to their dad that terrible night.

Sahota isn’t surprised. “Something that can be lost along the way when access is difficult is the truth” he says.

The daughters’ lawyer Peter Ritchie has blamed BC’s legal system for failing the girls. In response, the Attorney General says he’s been concerned about the hefty price tag attached to justice for years, but says Foisy’s daughters could have taken their civil suit to court and recovered the fees if they’d won. “They would have won – he’s representing victims who have been irreparably harmed” says Attorney General Wally Oppal.

Rajinder Sahota says he sees examples of legal inequality on the south island – with Victoria’s homeless situation. “You have homeless people with very shallow pockets, and lawyers working basically pro bono, making a constitutional argument against the city. The Attorney General steps in and says we’ll make the arguments for you [the city]. Well there’s an access to justice issue there” he says.

Wally Oppal says his staff is looking at a new set of rules allowing people to have access to the courts at a lower cost. Sahota notes there’s an election coming up. “Every four years you hear what you want to hear. In the interim, actions speak louder than words” says Sahota.

He hopes the attention the Queen of the North settlement is getting will get the government moving.

www.sahota.org

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