Sometimes our actions — or our reactions to extraordinary and tragic circumstances — have unintended consequences.
Case in point: The two lawsuits brought by the husband of a woman whose wife died while the two were lost in the backcountry near Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden in February. To review: Gilles Blackburn was lost for nine days; his wife, Marie-Josée Fortin, died seven days into their ordeal. During that time, the two stomped out an SOS message in the snow, and that message was spotted more than once from the air, but for whatever reason, Golden RCMP and others did not launch a search in time to save Fortin’s life. As a result, Blackburn and his family last month launched two lawsuits against Golden RCMP, Golden Search and Rescue (SAR), Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and others, seeking damages from Blackburn’s and his family’s pain and suffering. It’s believed to be the first time that a personal-injury lawsuit of this sort has been launched in Canada.
Superimpose onto that scenario an ongoing discussion/debate among provincial officials and B.C. search and rescue societies about who should be responsible for providing liability insurance to cover the societies in the event a court should fine a B.C. SAR society liable for any action (or in this case inaction) resulting from its work. An official with the Provincial Emergency Program (PEP) this week said individual searchers are covered, but the degree to which the societies themselves — their directors, and perhaps individual members — are covered seem to be open to debate. PEP officials say they have been encouraging all SAR societies in B.C. to purchase adequate liability insurance to cover them in instances such as the Golden tragedy. (As an aside, we’re not lawyers, but we might argue that Golden SAR shouldn’t be a defendant in the suit, since search and rescue societies don’t normally decide whether to initiate a search, and when. But we digress.)
It appears the whole liability debate was flying under the radar until May 8, when Blackburn and his family launched their lawsuits. However, we’re told that last week, in response to a question from the leaders of Golden SAR to PEP officials, the society’s leaders were told that they’re not covered if the society is found liable in the Blackburn suits — putting the assets of Golden SAR, and more importantly the personal assets of its directors, at risk. It’s not surprising that the society suspended its activities in protest.
It should come as little surprise to readers that a newspaper would side with the little guys in this instance. Each and every SAR member is, after all, a volunteer providing a service vital to the public. Searchers undergo training, often at their own expense, and sometimes put themselves at risk to help others — for no personal gain. But if those searchers’ own personal assets could potentially be at risk as well, who would sign up? It seems to us it would be far simpler and cheaper for the Province to simply purchase one liability policy to cover all such societies in B.C. than it would be for each of the 80-odd societies across the province to purchase their own.
We realize economic times are tough, but as taxpayers, we think it would be a small price to pay to support societies whose members so selflessly give of their time and energy.
