Equitas B.C. Class Action Lawsuit

Injured veterans to learn whether lawsuit over disability pensions can proceed


The Trudeau government's treatment of injured veterans will be under the spotlight Monday when a B.C. court rules whether a landmark lawsuit filed by six disabled ex-soldiers can proceed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons, in Ottawa on Wednesday, November 29, 2017.

By: Lee Berthiaume ---nThe Canadian Press --- Published on Sun Dec 03 2017

OTTAWA — The Trudeau government's treatment of injured veterans will be under the spotlight Monday when a B.C. court rules whether a landmark lawsuit filed by six disabled ex-soldiers can proceed.

The case, known as Equitas, revolves around a decision in 2006 to replace lifelong pensions for disabled vets with a single lump-sum payment, career training and targeted income-replacement programs.

The veterans, who launched their lawsuit five years ago, allege those changes discriminate against today's service members because the previous pension system provided more financial support over a lifetime.

They want the government to bring back the disability pensions, or at least something equivalent.

While the pension changes and lawsuit were launched under the previous Conservative government, Monday's ruling could have major implications for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals.

That's because Trudeau campaigned with Equitas members during the last federal election campaign in 2015, and the Liberals were the only party that promised to reinstate the lifelong pensions.

But two years later, that commitment remains unfulfilled. And while the government has said it will provide more details by the end of the year, many veterans are worried that it will fall far short of what was promised.

Meanwhile, the Liberals have continued to fight the lawsuit, which the Harper Conservatives appeared on the verge of settling before losing the election.

Monday's ruling by the B.C. Court of Appeal has been a long time coming; a panel of three judges has been weighing since June 2016 whether the case has enough merit to proceed.

Lawyer Don Sorochan, who represents the Equitas veterans, says a ruling in favour of his clients would represent a big step forward, but that there will be many more proceedings before victory can be declared.

"Legally, it goes back into the grind," he said, saying the next step would likely be to see whether the case can be certified as a class-action lawsuit.

Aaron Bedard, one of the six injured veterans involved in the case, said he and the others knew that it would be a long fight when they launched the lawsuit, but they felt it was something they had to do.

"This is an issue that affects people who are vulnerable," said Bedard, who worked with the Liberals during the last election and says he trusted Trudeau to bring back the old disability pensions.

The fear now, he said, is that the Liberals will simply take the lump-sum payment, which is worth a maximum of $360,000, depending on the extent of a veteran's injuries, and spread it out over several decades.

If the B.C. Court of Appeal rules against the Equitas veterans, Bedard said the group is prepared to take the matter all the way to the Supreme Court — and to polling stations across the country during the next election.

"There's no position where this is a win-win for them," he said. "And it could bode very poorly for them in the next election if they keep playing games with us."

http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2017/12/03/injured-veterans-to-learn-whether-lawsuit-over-disability-pensions-can-proceed.html

Aaron Bedard Dec 03, 2017

It is vital for government to keep their eyes and ears open on veteran issues. This is not the case currently. Tomorrow the judges ruling will be handed down to us all. Win or loose the GoC looses. It is foolish and poor advice to fight us in court in light of their electioneering in 2015. Fighting veterans in court bought some political time and that time will cost them deeply in the days ahead. I wish the situation was different. I wish they had the foresight to realize the impact this action has on our mental health and potentially on our mortality. They have not taken advice from veterans post election. I know this as I know all the advocates and it’s just not happening. Knowing they are not talking to us, the only place they could turn, is to be advised by the very bureaucracy defending an insurance modelled scheme being the New Veterans Charter. The point of our lawsuit and advocacy. Jody Wilson-Raybould Canada’s current justice minister was glad handing at this recent bi-election event yesterday in south Surrey. I availed myself to her and in a snap she dropped the smile and turned and walked away. They do not want to hear from us on any level. They truly are being fooled by their advisory. Making the same mistakes the former government made. But much worse having made huge promises in the 2015 election. It’s bloody sad but don’t worry my friends, we will help them see the err of their ways leading to the 2019 election. We will HOLDFAST!

https://www.facebook.com/MPmarkstrahl/videos/1125037640932906/

Why don't the Liberals stop threatening Members of Parliament and just answer the questions?

Same goes for Veterans!
Give them enough rope and The Liberals Party of Canada will eventually...

Decision has been made.....
http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/ca/17/04/2017BCCA0422.htm

from what i can read it looks like they sided with the gov but will allow an appeal

Of course the judge sided with GOC!
Who's paying his bills!
The 1% trying to keep us silent...,

lets hope that what the minister said will happen when he said i hope this upcoming life long pension will satisfy the lawsuit and vets at the end of the day the next election is going to be a hard one seeing there is no way i can stand behind the ones that took it away in the first place and at least so far these ones have increased me from 75% to 90% and did increase my lump sum even though they found a creative way to pay less at the end of the day we only have a voice a vote and hope

Will, I guess I am worth less then a terrorist.
OMfG, they really screwed this one up.
It is okay to fight soldiers all the way in court, but not to fight a terrorist and basically hand over $10.5 million.
No rhyme or reason, nor excuse or statement given by any of the leadership of the upper echelons of Canada will discredit our fight against the liars that we voted into the house of uncommon sense.
Time for all the parties to go, they all lie.
They hide their wealth and they abuse the rights of their soldiers on a daily basis.

Wildthing wrote:
Guess we sit down and dig into that big plate of bs!
The government knew the outcome because they wrote it in my opinion.
Don't know why enlistment contract was never argued on our behalf.
As far as voting never again for me, there is no honor in Ottawa only liars crooks and thieves.
I'm not even mad been dealt so much injustice it's become common practice after all there is no justice when your living under a dictatorship.
The government knew the outcome because they wrote it in my opinion.


Your absolutely right they knew the outcome before it was even handed down,  I think they think we are stupid.
Social Media full speed ahead and pass on the word to never serve  in the Canadian Armed Forces.
It is in my opinion, that it'll be pretty hard to rule a country without any support of ones military.
AND BTW
Stop saying and Canadians we (We as nation should despise it when he says Canadians as thou he owns us, remember only 30 odd percent voted for our so called leader)!
Just because your daddy had money and was the PM doesn't mean you as the son are entitled.
So, instead of saying "As we Canadians" during question period (say "me" or the liberal party") don't drag us true Canadians through the puddle of water as well.

And for those who forgot why we voted for the Cons years ago....Let me remind you of their tactic,  "We'll lower the GST to 5%", now that was a great idea to get voted in; was it not...but the province's raised their taxes and we still ended up paying 15%.
And I promise I will stop fighting Veterans in court and re-establish your life long pension.
BS

When will enough be enough!.

That's too bad, a lot of work put into this and regardless of any differences between groups we need to feel for those Veterans who are at the centre of the case, they can only take so much as it can have an negative effect on their well being. I hope they can all pull through this news with an open mind, and to learn from this in terms of who they are dealing with, The Government of Canada.

I will comment on this news, but my comments reflect only My Opinion, my comments are in no way to influence anyone, anyone here can give their own Opinion.

So hearing the news today makes me understand why the past government appealed, and why the present government continued with the appeal. They knew the outcome.

I don't know if Equitas will take this to the supreme court, I'm no legal expert but the Equitas legal team will do what they think is best.

We all need to remember that even with a full victory from Equitas would not mean a return of the tax free pension, or any pension that resembles in any way shape or form the old tax free pension. It is a legislation issue which falls under the constitution where the government will still have the upper hand, even if there ever was a full Equitas victory. The courts can only order the government to fix it, how the government chooses to fix it is on them. For me this is all about setting a precedent for Veterans. A precedent that could change things in a proactive manner for the future well being of all disabled Veterans. So the ruling today throws this precedent out the window for the time being.

Lessons learnt

Let this be a lesson for every Veteran reading this, there's no negotiating with the Canadian Government period!
The government runs the Country, the bureaucrats run the Veterans file. Since the enacting of the New Veterans Charter, I have read and watched countless negotiating on the Veterans file in every aspect or venue available to Veterans and groups. This clearly does not work, it may have to a point worked pre NVC, but it doesn't work today. Until this is understood, things will not work for disabled Veterans in this Country. The plaintiffs need to stick with their case, let others do the advocating for you. Attending meetings, events with government officials to work for positive change for disabled Veterans needs to come to a complete halt. We need to take our fight outside the government using the media and protest to let the Country know exactly what is taken place with the government heads allowing the bureaucrats to fully run the Veterans file. We need to stop fueling the governments PR system. Perhaps another suit with a different design would be in order, there's always a way, finding the way is the hard part. It is clear these three judges that ruled knew that the suit was lacking in merits, they also knew it would set a precedent that would hurt the government, at least from what I read, that's my take. I don't think for a minute we can compare this case to the SISIP lawsuit. This case is more complex and would carry bigger consequences for the government. So we will wait and see the response from Equitas as to their next step.

Lady's and Gentleman, this is the Canadian government treating it's Veterans with little to no respect, the upcoming lifelong pension will have no merits. Paul Martin's government gave birth to the new veterans charter, the conservatives passed it in the house with all parties signing on. This new charter is nowhere near the merits of the old pension act, the new charter is unfair compared to the old act today, and will continue to be unfair tomorrow. As time passes, the bureaucrats are throwing scraps for benefits, time will also work in the hopes that the difference between the merits of both system will fade, that is the bureaucratic plan, a plan that is working.