I see this no-fault buzz word as a gimmick by some corporate and governmental agencies to suppress the natural recourse for people to seek remedies against the wrongs they have been subjected. In two recent court rulings in Ontario and British Columbia, hepatitis C class-action lawyers were awarded $35 million, and as a consequence hepatitis C victim Mike McCarthy commented his disappointment by saying that "money will go into lawyers' bank accounts, instead of into a no-fault compensation government scheme that could have been used to help all victims."

I am certainly sympathetic with MacCarthy's desire to see that more money would go to help the victims rather than into the lawyers' bank accounts. However, MacCarthy's must recognize that the class actions carried forward by the lawyers were instrumental for helping the many thousands of tainted-blood victims to receive compensation. Also, MacCarthy must recognize that the current disheartening economic roles of governments(2)(3) and corporate culture(4) could not have been conducive to provide hepatitis C victims with a better compensation without the launching of legal class actions(5).

In Saskatchewan, the public review of no-fault insurance has brought to light the infringements of human rights and related damages to the no-fault victims(6). Such victims have no practical legal recourse since the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission created by Premier Roy Romanow is a governmental self serving agency(7), and since Saskatchewan people are not allowed to pursue legal remedies by using the tools of class actions or contingency fees(8). The only recourse of these no-fault victims is a political one(9) and their hope for changing the present no-fault insurance legislation is getting better with the stunning rejection of this government's policies in last Monday's by-election in Wood River(10). Finally, a breeze of fresh air is caressing the province for both our no-fault victims and the rest of us.

References & Endnotes

We must break down Premier Roy Romanow's myth that the system is more worth than individual rights. The law and order mentality of our justice system for protecting the individual rights of Saskatchewan people can be summarized by Serge Kujawa's statement made back in 1991 "It doesn't matter if Milgaard is innocent... The whole judicial system is at issue-it's worth more than one person." Serge Kujawa is a former prosecutor and colleague of Premier Roy Romanow.

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by Ensign

1. Tainted-blood lawyers get $35 million, by Mark Kennedy, The StarPhoenix, June 26, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. Governmental coalition in Saskatchewan: a private contractual deal at the expense of the electorate? By Mario deSantis, October 2, 1999

3. Governments must stop serving themselves and their friends, by Mario deSantis, February 13, 2000

4. Our leaders can't recognize an asset from a hole in the ground, by Mario deSantis, December 2, 1999

5. A class action is a legal procedure to hold corporate and governmental wrongdoers accountable for the damages they have caused to a number of individuals. Class actions are pursued when the cost of prosecution of individual claims is beyond the means of the individual. http://consumerlawpage.com/

6. Coalition Against No Fault In Saskatchewan. Transcripts Of Our First Meeting In Regina! http://www.angelfire.com/nf/coalitionagainstnf/library1.htm Transcripts Of Our Second Meeting In Saskatoon! http://www.angelfire.com/nf/coalitionagainstnf/nofault.pdf

7. Our Phony Government: preaching human rights while breaking the law, by Mario deSantis, June 22, 2000

8. Contingency fees, or percentage fees, are paid at the conclusion of a legal case, and only if there is a recovery. Lawyers who work on a contingency fee carry a higher financial risk and therefore they take strong cases and expect higher compensations. The contingency fee is the average person's only way to hire a lawyer and for that reason major corporations, insurance companies and governments have worked hard to limit contingency fees in order to limit the ability of the public to assert its legal rights. http://consumerlawpage.com/article/legalfee.shtml Turning lawyers into gamblers is a bad bet, by Allan Hutchinson, The Globe and Mail, June 7, 2000 http://www.globeandmail.ca/gam/Commentary/20000607/COHUTCH.html Case for contingency fees, by Douglas Lennox, letter to the editor, The Globe and Mail, June 9, 2000 http://www.globeandmail.ca/gam/Letters/20000609/FRLETS-9.html

9. No-Fault is not an administrative matter, it is a political matter, it affects all of us, by Mario deSantis, June 9, 2000

10. Sask. Party crushes NDP and Liberals, in byelection, CBC Saskatchewan, http://www.sask.cbc.ca Web Posted | Jun 28 2000 1:25 PM EDT