While local government does not have the ability to amend, or pass provincial legislation, the endorsement, support and recommendation to provincial government can send a clear message from the local level that this critical human rights work needs to get done.
We have a true opportunity at this juncture to bring forth the best wrongful death legislation in Canada that can set a modern international standard for legislated protections, dignity, and access to justice under the law.
We need our Member Families, Member Advocates, and the Public at large to write their own personalized letters to your local City Councillors.
We need you to express in your own words why supporting and endorsing motion R4 – Updating BC’s Wrongful Death Laws is personally important to you and your family.
If you do not reside in the Lower Mainland, not to worry, if and when this is passed and moves on to the UBCM, we will be undertaking a province-wide campaign for BC residents to contact their local city and municipal councils at that time. So those outside of the Lower Mainland can sit tight for now.
The below table includes a tool to automatically open an email addressed to your local city councillors.
Please fill out the subject line, write the body of the letter/email, include “R4 – Updating BC’s Wrongful Death Laws” in your letter, and sign the letter with your full name, telephone, and address located within the respective city/municipality. This allows the City Councillors to verify that you are in fact a constituent in order to ensure they address your letter.
‘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.
As a result of the province’s antiquated law, access to justice has been denied to the families of the wrongfully killed who do not meet this discriminatory criteria. This has affected especially vulnerable groups, namely children, seniors, the disabled, and anyone without dependents when they are killed by the negligent or intentional acts of another.
BC is presently the last of all the provinces, yet to have undertaken this critical legislative modernization to allow for dignity, value, and protections for all its citizens under the law.
When it’s ‘free’ to kill in BC, wrongdoers are not held accountable. This lack of general deterrence holds the province back in terms of incentivizing innovation of safety measures and protocols to prevent wrongful deaths in the first place.
Here’s How You Can Get Involved…
The Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, is responsible for the modernization of BC’s wrongful death laws. Our Society provided David Eby with the drafted ‘Wrongful Death Accountability Act’ when he was acting as the Attorney General for British Columbia for 6 years between 2017-2022. The new Attorney General, Niki Sharma, also shares responsibility as she is the Minister responsible for the ‘Family Compensation Act’ – the current guiding piece of legislation that the civil courts must follow in cases of wrongful death. Minister Sharma receives feedback from the regional ‘Members of the Legislative Assembly’ (MLAs) and follows orders from the Premier, David Eby, who is ultimately responsible for modernization.
Reform is presently at a standstill, as the BC NDP government does not presently view access to justice for the surviving family members of the wrongfully killed as a priority in this province. This is despite the fact that the families behind our Society have been fighting for modernization for over two decades. And despite the fact that all other provinces, including the Yukon, have already modernized in most cases long ago.
The only way to move this forward is by creating massive public awareness and outcry for legislative modernization. Only under the scrutiny of the public and the media will our politicians be forced to take this necessary, and long overdue action.
How many more people will need to die from the same preventable wrongful actions before our politicians will do their job?
#1 Kindly consider supporting the public awareness advertising efforts of our volunteer led Society by Donating Now »
‘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.