StoneMtn Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Okay, this is a story about someone who you've probably never heard of. (I did not know him personally.) I, however, almost started to cry this morning when I heard this news. If every lawyer was like Dugald Christie, everyone would love lawyers, and we would be considered the most benevolent people around. RIP Dugald; you will be remembered for the good work you did. B.C. legal crusader killed in cycling accidentLast Updated: Tuesday, August 1, 2006 | 7:28 AM PT CBC News A Vancouver lawyer who was cycling across Canada to raise awareness of access to legal assistance has been killed in a road accident in northern Ontario. Dugald Christie, 65, was struck by a vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Sault Ste. Marie around 6 p.m. Monday. Dugald Christie at the Supreme Court of Canada in August 2000. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press) Christie was a long-time supporter of equal access to the legal system, regardless of a person's income. Nineteen years ago, he began offering free legal advice to clients who were least able to pay for it, working out of the Salvation Army. As head of the Western Canada Society to Access Justice, he helped set up dozens of pro bono clinics in Western Canada. He launched his biggest fight for the working poor in 1992, when B.C. finance minister Glen Clark extended that province's sales tax to legal services. Christie and other lawyers challenged the law and a revised version of it four times over the years. Last year, the B.C. Supreme Court found that the law was unconstitutional to the extent that it limited the "fundamental right of access to the court of low-income persons." Justice Marvyn Koenigsberg ruled that British Columbians with annual incomes below $29,000 would no longer have to pay sales tax on their lawyers' bills. The judge also ordered the B.C. government to reimburse, with interest, more than $6,200 seized from Christie for unpaid sales tax. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 This is sad. Too bad there wasn't more coverage of his bike ride before he died. This was the first I heard of it. Sounds like a great human being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneMtn Posted August 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Here's a link for a Real Audio clip with Kathryn Gretsinger talking with a BC lawyer and friend of Dugald, named Mike Maryn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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