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Anger over skier suing over wife's death
VANCOUVER–The lawyer for a Quebec skier who barely survived being lost for nine days in the B.C. backcountry and who watched his wife die in the ordeal says she's surprised by the level of animosity toward her client now that he has launched numerous lawsuits.
Venomous comments have proliferated on the Internet in the wake of Gilles Blackburn's decision to sue the RCMP, the province, a ski resort and the search-and-rescue squad in Golden, B.C., alleging they were negligent in not responding to the SOS signals he stamped in the snow last February.
The lawsuit has prompted the Golden search-and-rescue team to shut down and has other volunteer teams across the country scrambling to determine whether they have insurance against such legal action.
But Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, Blackburn's lawyer, says the public appears to have lost sight of who the victim is in this case.
"I think it's important that people be reminded who's being sued here and why," Wilhelm-Morden told The Canadian Press.
"Golden Search and Rescue and the RCMP heard (Blackburn's and wife Marie Josee-Fortin's) cries for help and they did nothing," she alleged.
Last week the Golden team announced it was suspending its services after Blackburn filed two lawsuits against it – one on his own behalf, one for his children.
Blackburn is seeking damages for alleged negligence after he and his wife became lost while skiing from the top of a lift within the resort on Feb. 15. Fortin died of hypothermia seven days into the ordeal.
When Blackburn filed the suits, he said he wanted to make sure no one was ever again left stranded in the woods without help.
In an ironic twist, search-and-rescue teams throughout B.C. are now considering shutting down because of the lawsuit, and others across Canada, involving 15,000 volunteers, are scrambling to re-examine if their liability insurance policies are extensive enough.
VANCOUVER–The lawyer for a Quebec skier who barely survived being lost for nine days in the B.C. backcountry and who watched his wife die in the ordeal says she's surprised by the level of animosity toward her client now that he has launched numerous lawsuits.
Venomous comments have proliferated on the Internet in the wake of Gilles Blackburn's decision to sue the RCMP, the province, a ski resort and the search-and-rescue squad in Golden, B.C., alleging they were negligent in not responding to the SOS signals he stamped in the snow last February.
The lawsuit has prompted the Golden search-and-rescue team to shut down and has other volunteer teams across the country scrambling to determine whether they have insurance against such legal action.
But Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, Blackburn's lawyer, says the public appears to have lost sight of who the victim is in this case.
"I think it's important that people be reminded who's being sued here and why," Wilhelm-Morden told The Canadian Press.
"Golden Search and Rescue and the RCMP heard (Blackburn's and wife Marie Josee-Fortin's) cries for help and they did nothing," she alleged.
Last week the Golden team announced it was suspending its services after Blackburn filed two lawsuits against it – one on his own behalf, one for his children.
Blackburn is seeking damages for alleged negligence after he and his wife became lost while skiing from the top of a lift within the resort on Feb. 15. Fortin died of hypothermia seven days into the ordeal.
When Blackburn filed the suits, he said he wanted to make sure no one was ever again left stranded in the woods without help.
In an ironic twist, search-and-rescue teams throughout B.C. are now considering shutting down because of the lawsuit, and others across Canada, involving 15,000 volunteers, are scrambling to re-examine if their liability insurance policies are extensive enough.
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