We put forth Freedom of Information Act requests to the Ministry of Attorney General, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Premier in 2023. Finally, after nearly 3 years, and 2 Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner complaints we have now obtained the final set of heavily redacted records as of June 12, 2026. Things are bleak – the BC NDP failed to modernize BC’s wrongful death laws as promised within their last mandate of government – the records speak to these promises that were broken in documented format.
As the 2024 Provincial Election looms, David Eby & the BC NDP make a litany of promises to British Columbians. However, their promises to modernize BC’s wrongful death laws within their 2020-2024 mandate of government have proven false.
The Conservative Party of BC has endorsed the Wrongful Death Accountability Act, promising to enact it as a priority in their legislative agenda if they are elected in the 2024 BC Provincial Election.
The parents of toddler Ocean have learned that their daughter’s life is worth less than a car. Each parent gets $14,918 for the death of child from ICBC. They cannot sue the insurer in this province.
But other provinces have the different rules and a group that wants to change B.C. laws is hoping high profile cases will help change the law.
“I thought I lived in a place where life mattered,” she said. “But there’s been no justice, no accountability.”
Because Madeline did not have dependent children, B.C. civil law places little monetary value on her life. Compensation in cases of wrongful death caused by negligence is tied to the victim’s future earning potential and the age of their dependent children. Stroup said ICBC offered her family money for funeral costs. The driver of the vehicle that killed Madeline and Hayden did not face criminal charges.
