Ont. appeal court rejects disabled vets' lawsuit

[GAP]

Ont. appeal court rejects disabled vets' lawsuit
Updated Wed. Jul. 4 2007 11:58 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Mentally disabled war veterans have been denied the $4.6-billion award they sought from the federal government for the mismanagement of their pensions.

Ontario's Appeal Court rejected the award Wednesday.

Ottawa had appealed a lower court ruling that said roughly 30,000 veterans -- the majority of whom are now deceased -- were owed the money. Some of the funds dated as far back as 1919.

The vets and their dependents launched a class-action lawsuit in 1999. They maintained that Ottawa had failed to meet its responsibilities to the veterans by neglecting to pay interest on their pensions.

In 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the feds, saying the government was not required to pay interest from prior to 1990.


But later the Ontario Superior Court ruled the vets could still sue the government for interest they should have been paid.

The Wednesday reversal of that decision by Ontario's Appeal Court said that the Supreme Court's earlier decision was "final and binding."

"That should have been the end of the matter," the Appeal Court said in its ruling Wednesday. "The entire action ended with the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada."

The Appeal Court's decision was unanimous.

There was no immediate response from the plaintiffs, but a news conference is scheduled for later Wednesday.
End of Article

 

[geo]

The supreme court decision is as far as you can go....

The only outlet still available is the court of public opinion and the browbeating of the MPs by their constituents... bvring on a private member's bill

 

[GAP]

The supreme court decision is as far as you can go....

The only outlet still available is the court of public opinion and the browbeating of the MPs by their constituents... bvring on a private member's bill

I think the mention of the Supreme court was in regards to a different but related decision....this decision was made by the Ontario Appeals court

 

[geo]

The vets and their dependents launched a class-action lawsuit in 1999. They maintained that Ottawa had failed to meet its responsibilities to the veterans by neglecting to pay interest on their pensions.

In 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the feds, saying the government was not required to pay interest from prior to 1990.


But later the Ontario Superior Court ruled the vets could still sue the government for interest they should have been paid.

The Wednesday reversal of that decision by Ontario's Appeal Court said that the Supreme Court's earlier decision was "final and binding."

"That should have been the end of the matter," the Appeal Court said in its ruling Wednesday. "The entire action ended with the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada."

Class action in 1999
Supreme court decision in 2001 - no interest due
Ontario superior court ruling that interest should have been paid
Ontario appeals court ruling that the superior court erred in that the entire action ended with the jugement of the supreme court

ALL RELATED

 

[GAP]

corrected

 

[3rd Herd]

Vets lose pension lawsuit

Thu, July 5, 2007

The veterans' lawyer insists discrimination occurred against them.

By JANE SIMS, SUN MEDIA

Ontario's highest court has struck down $4.6 billion in damages in a lawsuit filed on behalf of generations of disabled war veterans in a legal battle with Ottawa over mismanagement of their pensions.

But the 42-page decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, released yesterday, won't be the last word in the fight first launched by the family of a shell-shocked London veteran.

London lawyer Peter Sengbusch said the vets will apply to send the case back to the Supreme Court of Canada, to argue disabled vets were discriminated against under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when law was passed in 1990 blocking claims to financial interest before then.

Canada's highest court will have the final word, he said.

Yesterday, the Ontario court, the province's highest, upheld a Supreme Court ruling of four years ago, saying families of veterans couldn't sue for interest on pension money held in trust before 1990, and struck down a calculation of damages sought later in another court.

"We agree with the Crown's submission that the judgement in the Supreme Court was final and binding and that there was no basis in fact or law for the class to pursue its claim, or any aspect of it once that judgement had been rendered," the court wrote.

The appeal court said it declined to hear Charter arguments, saying the issues weren't discussed in 2003 when the Supreme Court struck down the suit.

Sengbusch said the Charter issues were never at issue during the government's appeal to the Supreme Court.

"We are definitely going to go ahead and take this to the next level," he said.

"We have to."

Yesterday's decision overturned a ruling by Superior Court Justice John Brockenshire, who said the Supreme Court decision applied only to interest payments, leaving unsettled how much money would have been earned if invested in stocks and bonds.

He set damages at $4.6 billion -- what would have been the largest civil award in Canadian history, had the vets succeeded.

The federal government's veterans' legislation, the appeal court said, clearly barred any claim against the government for failing to pay interest and Brockenshire erred when he concluded there was only a partial ban.

The plaintiffs waited too long after 1990 to start their claim, it said, and the damage assessments were too high.

The decision was the latest in a complex case that began almost eight years ago and was triggered by the family of Pte. Joe Authorson, a destitute, mentally-ill veteran who spent most of his life in psychiatric wards after the Second World War.

Authorson's family, and families of other veterans suffering physical and mental disabilities, had sued Ottawa for interest on the money it had managed on their behalf.

Half of Authorson's money was personal funds, not just pension money, which received no investment or interest.

Some of the veterans' pensions dated back to 1916 and affects the monies of an estimated 30,000 veterans.

Sengbusch said the latest decision only addresses one part of a complicated case.

There was "a fundamental error" when the court declined to hear the Charter issues, leaving that "sitting there like a festering sore," he said.

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CHRONOLOGY OF THE VETERANS' CASE

October, 1999: The family of Joe Authorson, a disabled Second World War vet who lived at London's Parkwood Hospital, launches a class-action lawsuit in Windsor against the federal government, for failing to pay interest on pensions and benefits. Thousands of other vets were invited to join.

October, 2000: Ontario Superior Court Justice John Brockenshire rules for the vets, deciding Ottawa owes them at least $1.5 billion in interest.

November, 2000: The government says it's appealing the decision.

March, 2002: The Ontario Court of Appeal dismisses the appeal and agrees the federal government violated the Bill of Rights.

May, 2002: The federal government says it will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

June, 2002: Authorson dies at age 88.

July, 2003: The Supreme Court of Canada rules against the vets, deciding they couldn't sue for money held before 1990.

December, 2005: Justice Brockenshire rules the government owes the veterans $4.5 billion in damages.

July, 2007: The Ontario Court of Appeal strikes down Brockenshire's decision. Lawyers for the vets say they'll appeal to the Supreme Court.

Source Link: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2007/07/05/4314147-sun.html