As seen on Ici Radio Canada by William Burr, 13th May 2023.
Original article in French
English translation
Ammar Sedghi lost his brother, Amir, who was then 26, in a plane crash in 2019. He claims the Family Compensation Act prevents his family from suing the company responsible for the plane, because Amir had no dependents. Photo: Radio-Canada / William Burr
About 50 people marched in Vancouver on Saturday to demand compensation after the loss of a family member. They are asking the Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, to modernize the law called the Family Compensation Act, which governs compensation after a death deemed wrongful.
The organization that initiated the protest, the BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society , claims that this law does not consider losses other than those resulting from financial damages, which results in the death of financial dependents, such as children, retired parents, or disabled persons, cannot be compensated.
The law also limits compensation claims to dependents of the deceased.
The BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society brings together relatives of victims of various tragedies, such as car accidents, medical errors, or situations that occurred in centers for the elderly.
Amir Sedghi died in a plane crash on May 4, 2019, near Smithers. As a data analyst, he had to undertake infrared exploration of forests in order to detect fires. Photo: BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society
Ammar Sedghi lost his brother, Amir, in a plane crash four years ago in the north of the province. His family contacted several lawyers for compensation, but all said the case was unlikely to succeed.
“As soon as someone has no dependants, the family loses the right to complain, and to investigate in order to know who is responsible for the death. The door is completely closed,” says Ammar Sedghi.
“Some people say we should erect a statue to remember him. Well, yes, we will remember him, we can’t forget him. We will talk about him as long as we live. But I don’t want this to happen to another family. I don’t want other people to feel hopeless like we feel today.”
— Ammar Sedghi
Relatives of Theresa Pereira, who died in 2006 when an infection developed in her eye after cataract surgery. Photo: Radio-Canada / William Burr
Beatrice Pereira, who lost her mother in 2006, also shared her story. Her mother, who was then in her 70s, developed a fatal infection when she was receiving “routine” cataract surgery .
“We met several lawyers who all told us that legal action was not worthwhile unless she was still alive,” says Beatrice Pereira.
Repeated NDP government commitments
In an email on Saturday, a spokesperson for current Attorney General Niki Sharma wrote that “grieving families need more support when a wrongful death takes place. For this reason, our ministry is working to update the Family Compensation Act, so families can address the injustices they face.”
The NDP government has repeatedly stated that it wants to modernize this law during its mandate. In December 2020, when he was Attorney General, David Eby had already said that it was a priority under the current mandate of the provincial government.
The BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society states that all other provinces have modernized their wrongful death compensation legislation.
“David Eby must finish the job he started”, says its president, Michael-James Pennie.
‘In Their Name’ is the campaign of ‘The BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society’ – a BC registered non-profit organization comprised of volunteer families who have lost a loved one to wrongful death in BC and were denied access to justice. In response to the biggest human rights issue facing the province today, our goal is to modernize British Columbia’s antiquated wrongful death legislation, which predates confederation (1846). Under current legislation, the value of a human life is measured only by the deceased’s future lost income, so long as they had dependents.