Government Correspondence

The purpose of this page is to track correspondence with the Premier and the Attorney General’s office, which is the ministry responsible for the Family Compensation Act.

Our intention is to facilitate openness, continuity, and accountability to the public from this government in the BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society’s efforts to replace the Family Compensation Act with the Wrongful Death Accountability Act.

(Last updated November 9, 2022)

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September 27, 2011

Letter from Beatrice Pereira to then-Premier Christy Clark, urging her to introduce new wrongful death legislation. Then-Premier Christy Clark never responded.

May 3, 2017

2017 Pre-Election Questionnaire – The BC NDP responded to a pre-election questionnaire stating “Yes. We agree that the Family Compensation Act needs to be overhauled. This statute is archaic, uncompassionate, and out of touch with modern realities, relationships, and values.”

July 13, 2017

Letter from MLA Mike Farnworth’s office to Catherine AdamsonEmail promising to pass on her letter & proposals to the then-new Attorney-General, once selected.

July 27, 2017

Letter from MLA Leonard Krog – Email in support of a meeting with Attorney General Minister Eby.

August 25, 2017

Letter from MLA Nicholas Simons – Email in support of a meeting with Attorney General Minister Eby.

August 27, 2017

Letter to Attorney General David Eby – Follow up email to Attorney General Minister Eby regarding the mailed package containing Catherine Adamson’s Book and the proposed Wrongful Death Accountability Act.

November 3, 2017

Statement Released to CTV News by the Attorney General’s Office Stating They Are “Looking at Reforms” – Attorney General Minister Eby claims to be reviewing the Family Compensation Act.

June 19, 2018

Letter to Attorney General David Eby – Email to Attorney General Minister Eby following up to correspondence from the previous year and requesting a meeting to discuss modernizing BC’s wrongful death laws.

June 26, 2018

Letter to Premier Horgan and Attorney General David Eby – Further to previous correspondence, Catherine Adamson shares a story of Lindsey Kean, who died from the exact same preventable error as Heidi Klompas, both being denied access to justice, resulting in the same type of error repeating decades later.

July 30, 2018

Letter from Attorney General David Eby – Attorney General Minister Eby returns correspondence; refuses meeting and refuses review of the Family Compensation Act.

October 9, 2019

Meeting with Minister Eby in Victoria – Attorney General Minister Eby agreed to meet and thereafter asked for updated legislative recommendations, stated they would likely get to reviewing in the Spring 2020 legislative session.

October 23, 2019

Presentation to NDP Caucus and Introduction to the Legislature During Question Period – Society President, Michael-James Pennie presents to the NDP Caucus at the legislature in Victoria. Attorney General Minister Eby introduces the Society, President Michael-James Pennie, Campaign Coordinator Mattis Bieg to the legislature during Question Period.

March 9, 2020

Legislative Recommendations letter to Attorney General David EbyNo direct response or agreement to meet by Minister Eby to discuss the provided legislative recommendations. BC NDP thereafter release statement that there are “diverging views” about the value of human life, legislated protections, access to justice, and accountability to wrongdoers in the BC government and “no decisions have been made”.

April 2, 2020

Letter to Secretary Mitzi Dean, Minister of Children and Family Development, previously the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, with the subject: “The Impact of Wrongful Death & No-Fault Legislation on Vulnerable Groups.” Appended to the letter is the Wrongful Death Accountability Act Briefing Note and the No-Fault Addendum. – Mitzi Dean provided no response.

July 27, 2020

Email from Attorney General Minister Eby to BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society President Michael-James Pennie, regarding amendments to the Enhanced Care legislation and Family Compensation Act.

September 22, 2020

Email Sent to Attorney General Minister David Eby – Email to Attorney General Minister Eby requesting his and the NDP Party’s position with respect to modernizing BC’s wrongful death laws in advance of the election.

October 1, 2020

Email Sent to David Eby’s NDP Campaign Email Address – David Eby and his campaign provided no response and accordingly refused to go on record about modernizing BC’s wrongful death laws in advance of the election. 

October 15, 2020

Email to Attorney General David Eby; Premier John Horgan; and MLAs Adrian Dix, Janet Routledge, Rachna Singh, Bowinn Ma, Katrina Chen, Andrew Wilkinson, Michael Lee, Sonia Furstenau, and Don Wilson – No response from John Horgan, David Eby, or any BC NDP candidates – refusal to provide position on modernizing the Family Compensation Act prior to the Election.

November 26, 2020

Mandate Letter from Premier Horgan to Minister EbyPremier Horgan outlined what is in Minister Eby’s mandate as Attorney General in the new term. Not a single bullet point is mentioned with respect to reviewing the Family Compensation Act. 

December 21, 2020

Attorney General Minister Eby Releases Statement to Media “It’s a priority for me as attorney general to address it in this mandate of our government. And I look forward to doing that and it will be the memory of people like Natasha that makes that happen,” – What was once never, then became Spring 2020, then became never, then has become potentially 2024, even though the legislation has already been drafted and is ready to go.

January 30, 2021

Email to Attorney General Minister Eby Providing Updated Legislative Recommendations – Awaiting response for meeting request to review the proposed legislation as requested prior to the Spring 2021 legislative session.

February 17, 2021

Letter from MLA Routley to Minister Eby in Support of Modernizing BC’s Wrongful Death LawsAfter meeting with one of our Society’s member families and our Society President, MLA Douglas Routley sent a letter in support of the provincial government modernizing BC’s wrongful death laws. 

March 3, 2021

BC Liberal Caucus PresentationThe entire BC Liberal Caucus hosted the BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society, granting an entire hour with presentations from Ann Forry, Catherine Adamson, Faith Hayman, and Michael-James Pennie.

March 4, 2021

Email to the BC Liberal Caucus thanking them for hosting an hour-long meeting on March 3, 2021, about modernizing the province’s wrongful death laws. Appended to the letter is the Wrongful Death Accountability Act Briefing Note.

Email from MLA Coralee Oakes, thanking Society President Michael-James Pennie for his email and expressing a desire to assist with our cause.

March 8, 2021

Letter from Liberal MLA Michael de Jongfollowing the Liberal caucus presentation Michael de Jong provided a letter in support of our Society and in modernizing the province’s wrongful death laws. 

March 14, 2021

Email from MLA Teresa Wat, thanking Michael-James Pennie for his email of March 4th. Teresa Wat was the organizer of the BC Liberal caucus meeting of March 3rd, 2021.

March 31, 2021

Langley MLA Andrew Mercier writes a letter to then Attorney-General David Eby, sharing the story of his constituent Kari Bateman and proposing action – including listening to affected families – regarding modernizing BC’s wrongful death laws.

April 13, 2021

Letter from MLA Melanie Mark to constituent Frank Watts acknowledging the need to update the Family Compensation Act.

April 14, 2021

Email from Attorney General Minister EbyRefuses to meet with the BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society.

December 7, 2022

Mandate Letter from Premier Eby to Minister SharmaIn late November 2022, David Eby was elected Premier following the resignation of John Horgan, and a subsequent NDP leadership election. Vancouver-Hastings MLA Niki Sharma became Attorney General, receiving her official mandate from Premier Eby in early December 2022. Yet again, not a single bullet point is mentioned with respect to reviewing the Family Compensation Act.

July 25, 2023

Email from Premier Eby’s office to BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society President Michael-James Pennie, regarding the 2023 Mothers for Justice Memorial Walk. The only response was a bland form email. No ownership of Premier Eby’s failure to acknowledge the families or provide a statement to the media. No acknowledgement of the fact that the photos of the wrongfully killed loved ones were were ripped down from his constituency office window by Monday morning, less than 48 hours after the Memorial Walk.

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