This week’s guest blog is written by author and former newspaper publisher Colin Alexander. His current work-in-progress is a book about horror stories in the justice system, and how to fix it.
Accountability is a buzzword of our time—for everyone except for the guardians of accountability, namely, lawyers and judges. But things can change. Making it happen requires concerted pressure on politicians at all levels. Only they have the power to impose the collective will of citizens against collective resistance in the justice system.
Judges in the Supreme Court case Bhasin v. Hrynew said this about good-faith dealing: “Commercial parties reasonably expect a basic level of honesty and good faith in contractual dealings. … A basic level of honest conduct is necessary to the proper functioning of commerce.” So what about lawyers and judges? Their own modus operandi echoes too often the famous saying by Lord Acton that power tends to corrupt and absolute power…
A chasm of accountability
I know someone who kept a diary of phone calls with her lawyer. He billed 20 minutes for calls lasting 5 minutes, and billed her for calls that never happened. Confronted with the diary, the lawyer admitted to mistakes, and he reduced the bill by two thirds. Incidents like this happen all the time. If you want to contest a lawyer’s bill—guess what! —another lawyer, sometimes a retired judge, conducts the review. In his book Lawyers Gone Bad, lawyer and former law school dean Philip Slayton explains how this happens:
“Once the practice of law meant giving good counsel about justice and fairness, but now it is a big business in which billable hours, take-no-prisoners victories and the bottom line are the principal ends. … Over-docketing is tolerated, if not encouraged, by firms that value profit above all else and set unrealistic billing goals for their partners and associates. Gripped by ambition, greed, fear or panic, lawyers cheat. … Billing by the hour, whether a lawyer is lying or not, creates bad incentives and encourages unprofessional behaviour. The longer it takes a lawyer to solve his client’s problem, the greater his income.”
Former Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said the justice system needs cultural change, although she didn’t hint at an implementation plan. At his investiture last year as Chief Justice of Canada’s Supreme Court, Richard Wagner acknowledged part of the problem: “It has become increasingly evident that our procedures for dealing with serious judicial conduct complaints are outmoded, slow, and opaque. Furthermore, while Canadians expect transparency and accountability, we continue to operate under 1970s models of judicial administration.” That’s about judges. What about lawyers?
The CBC Fifth Estate’s Mark Kelley found that between 2010 and 2015, law societies disciplined more than 200 Canadian lawyers, 71 of them in Ontario, for stealing about $160 million worth of clients’ money. They helped themselves to clients’ trust funds, kept money that belonged to a deceased client’s estate, charged for services not provided, and charged fees so unreasonable as to constitute misconduct. CBC identified criminal prosecution of less than 10 percent of the lawyers disciplined. Why so few?
Why doesn’t every lawyer file an independent auditor’s report every year with their respective law society? This would enable a neutral professional assessment of how lawyers handle client money, which is core to accountability. Why does the Law Society of Ontario have a ceiling of $500,000 for compensating victims of lawyers’ dishonesty—and even then, only under limited circumstances? Why is there a cap on compensation? And why does the process take so long? Moreover, the relationship between the Law Society of Ontario and the major legal insurer, LawPRO, is opaque, with the LSO having originally incorporated LawPRO, and continuing to be a strong presence on its Board.
A rare case of accountability finally ended the right way—sort of. The Quebec Bar Association allowed a lawyer with a series of disciplinary offences to stay in business, and he conducted what the Quebec Court of Appeal (who awarded Finney $25,000 in “moral damages”, although she claimed material damages of $425,000 and a further $200,000 in emotional and loss of time damages) described as a “guerilla war against (Finney)” in the courts, running up her costs. When Finney first sued the Bar Association in 1999, Justice Normand in the Superior Court said that the Bar had done nothing wrong and was not accountable for her losses. Five years later, Finney was vindicated in the Supreme Court of Canada. The Federation of Law Societies representing all Canada’s provincial and territorial law societies intervened in support of the law societies’ right to independence—but in this case, that amounted to the right to exercise inadequate oversight and no accountability.
The urgency of reforms
In response to constant complaints about lawyers, the UK House of Commons appointed Sir David Clementi, an accountant and formerly Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, to deliver recommendations about self-regulation. Previous reviews by lawyers simply endorsed the status quo. But Clementi wrote, “Regulation is a public service. It should be carried out in the interest of the public, and be independent of representation of the profession. When lawyers are self-regulating, their focus is rarely on access to justice or other consumer outcomes.” He noted that self-regulation hadn’t worked for banks, brokers, and other services, and that the days of self-regulation were over. After delivery of his consultation paper in 2004, the 2007 Legal Services Act ended self-regulation in England and Wales. They set up a credibly independent body to process complaints about lawyers, imperfect though even that still is. Can’t we get our own Clementi on the job? Isn’t it time for our lawyers and judges to be credibly accountable?
Although, obviously, perfection isn’t achievable in litigation, England’s low-cost and efficient employment tribunals provide a template for prospective reform in Canada. They encourage self-representation, as some tribunals in Canada have begun to do, although many SRLs complain of inadequate assistance and resources. A key element is to empower the adjudicator to take charge rather than having a judge sit like a bump on the log while lawyers bring obstructive motions and battle it out. (The adjudicator could say, “That’s not useful. This is what I need to know…”). “Active adjudication” as it is often called is increasingly discussed among tribunal adjudicators in Canada. This approach relies primarily on written submissions and inquisitorial adjudicators employed by the state take command of the process. A three-person appeals tribunal, if required, comprises a lawyer, and two other credible individuals, agreed by the parties, who have experience relevant to the dispute.
This model would be readily adaptable for matrimonial disputes which, so often, are protracted and ruinous. Many victims of the system experience the falsehood of arbitrators in the private sector claiming to deliver fast, efficient, and cost-effective service. Even at its best, it’s still an adversarial process. From someone who articled at the Supreme Court of Canada, I have reports that some lawyers have stopped doing family arbitration because of opposing lawyers’ make-work practices, tolerated by arbitrators who also bill by the hour.
Everyone says justice should be accessible, affordable, and accountable. Absent anything practical being done to make that happen, I submit that we need a combined federal and province-backed, comprehensive inquiry to set change in motion. It needs to address all aspects of the administration of justice in Canada. It needs to deliver recommendations for credible accountability for lawyers and judges, and for the appointment process for judges. There needs to be a plan for fundamental overhaul and streamlining of court processes, and moving many more disputes out of the courts and into accessible administrative tribunals, and for rehabilitation programs, as in Germany and the Netherlands, for prison inmates.
As US Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis once wrote, “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.”
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Find practical guides and information resources for those representing themselves in court under the SRL Resources tab at the top of this page. See here for our Directory of Professionals Assisting SRLs (which lists lawyers and other legals pros from across Canada who provide unbundled or other lower cost legal services). Explore our website for further research, resources, information, blogs, and podcasts that may be useful or interesting to self-represented litigants, and those invested in access to justice.
Meanwhile, meritorious claims are dismissed without any input of the Plaintiff or Applicant when the proceeding is brought by an SRL. In fact, Rules were introduced for that very purpose.
How about you start with a moratorium on dismissing claims on the basis that corrupt lawyers have asked for them? People’s lives are ruined by the lawyer-Judge collusion to ‘get rid’ of a self-represented litigant. Even when you have an audio of a Deputy Judge making such statements to his brother in the defendant’s chair, there is no recourse and you are blocked repeatedly by the Judges and the registry as you seek recourse.
I just received a Notice that my Application to the Ontario Superior Court has been dismissed at the request of the opposing lawyer as being vexatious and frivolous on its face, without any opportunity for me to defend my need to bring the Application.
Why the need to bring an application? Because in the small claims court action (argued by a top defamation lawyer), the Deputy Judge condoned witness tampering, illegal use of the ‘doctor’ title, 44 misrepresentations by one defendant on the stand, 27 misrepresentations by the other defendant on the stand, insurance fraud and engaged in a gross failure to adjudicate the defamation action before him to instead create novel defences for defamation unknown in law. That the Deputy Judge lost jurisdiction and that his decision is a nullity is an understatement.
In addition, the lawyer who requested the dismissal of my Application is the lawyer who referred to the Deputy Judge’s decision in her cost submissions 9 months before the Decision was released.
If it smells like corruption, it is corruption, and therefore the Ontario Superior Court Justice who dismissed my Application just because an ethically-bankrupt lawyer asked him to do so, should have to answer for the decision to deny me my time before a court of competent jurisdiction.
This Judge, by dismissing my Application without any input from me, the Applicant, gave life to a nullity and fraud. This whole case of mine should stand as solid proof that these sorts of things are not one-offs, but normalized and we can expect this sort of disgusting behavior at all levels, especially when a lawyer is to be protected.
What is the recourse for this? None. We need an end to corporate government and a brand new de jure government run by the people, for the people.
The consequence of believing in this ‘system’ is that my reputation is ruined, that there is nothing but corruption ahead no matter my efforts to follow the rules and do the best job humanly possible to respect the court as I seek to be heard, while such a lawyer wins the day without ever having to explain how she knew the decision in the lower court 9 months before the rest of us. And that the other lawyer in the matter can get away scott-free with witness tampering that the Deputy Judge condoned is downright scary.
My personal belief is that the public has caught on and the days of the legal monopoly and the present immunity of the judiciary is just about over. We need real human beings sitting as adjudicators, not fictitious commercial entities who cannot see the destruction that their ‘support the team at all costs’ is doing to their country and their own souls.
When lawyers know that they can rely on judges when up against a SRL.They know that there is no need for “accountability”. Therein lays the problem, “suborning perjury” is meaningless and sadly,has become an accepted culture in our legal system.
Yes, my three applications for Charter remedy have been consistently dismissed under Rule 2.1.01(1) and the Crown Proceedings Act despite the fact I had clearly pleaded Charter violations. Hence there is really no Charter protection.
Even the Supreme Court of Canada didn’t care to uphold my right to obtain Charter remedy despite the constitutional guarantee.
Our justice system is flagrantly using Rule 2.1.01(1) as weapon to obstruct, pervert and defeat justice, which is an indictable offence under the Criminal Code.
don’t you just love the way our government is always claiming very righteously they are following the “rule of law”?
if you are a self represented litigant, in court apparently ANYWHERE in Canada, we all know there is NO RULE OF LAW, What we have discovered is we are operating under the great cloud of bullshit, lies, corruption, and most of all, complete disrespect for the law, If there is no law for one,, there Is no law for any,
Your comment is the plain spoken truth. I have it even worse–I live in the states! When I hear (over and over again) that we are a country of laws–when so clearly we are anything but–I flinch. I’ve been a self-represented litigator in an abusive divorce litigation (after I dismissed my colluding attorney) and a claimant in an arbitration, both of which I documented and archived from the outset. No matter –the system is stacked against you by decades of acculturated corruption. An innocent self-represented litigant is way outside the loop!
Navin, maybe you should know I sat in on one of Donald Best hearings and heard with my own two ears a lawyer from one of the AGs office tell the court-judge Boswell I think that no one is entitled to charter rights. When that escaped his lips he spun around quickly to see if we heard that. You bet I heard it loudly and clearly. That was when I realised why judges in Alberta never cared a hoot about any of my Charter claims and just dismissed them for sport
So we ought to know those we put in office think differently from the law they put in our faces. Recall too, not long ago those lawyers (federal DOJ) filed response to the court that employer (government in that case) has no obligation to provide a harassment free workplace. That case had to do with female members of the RCMP who sued about harassment they endured on the job
Now I know, no one is entitled to nay of the protections in the Charter
Justice Rooke in Alberta is the one who started all that harassment of self-litigants. His attacks on people just trying to exercise the freedoms they were told they had must someday come before a common law court of justice so that he can be sent to prison for gross violation of human rights.
IF we fail in asserting our fundamental human rights in the courts according to the customs of the court, then it is 100% the fault of the government, because it had a primary legal obligation starting in 1976 with the International Covenants to ensure that we were all educated and that effective venues were provided.
This guarantee was repeated with the signing and ratification of Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by General Assembly resolution 53/144 of 9 December 1998.
Instead, the government has spent billions keeping us ignorant and keeping authority figures in high places to provide as many road-blocks as possible.
Human speak English or French, not fictitious code language. That’s why they beat us down. We need a Canada for human beings so we can kick these fictitious beings to the curb. Some of them are really decent, but they are rare.
Beautifully written, well done Grace.
I found you guys yesterday, March 27, 2019 in search of resources and assistance with a legal malpractice case. I spent the whole day reading the blogs and links.
I knew I was not the only one but had no idea the magnitude of injustice nation wide.
I just want you all to know that I believe you are making a difference. Your voices are building a solid foundation for a slow but sure uprising in exposing the unfair and unreasonable actions in our Judicial system. You are all making an impact and I honestly believe the powers that be are noticing and acting.
Thank you all for laying the ground work for change and awareness.
I pray that those who’ve sworn to uphold rules and ethics of the system will expose those who abuse it and their power.
Too many people have been tormented, devasted and ruined because of unfair play. People need to be assisted in resolving their disputes like it says in the basic foundational first rule of court.
God Bless. I so agree with you. Its mind boggling, crazy-making when you speak truth yet so called “justice” system is Nothing but Corrupted. We victims of this “InJusticeystem” are shut silent , lost hundredthousands dollars.
Its corruption as in developing countries.
To read artilcles stating Canada is one of least corrupt countries in the World is pure BS.
1.5 million dollars from unnecessary land sales are firmly in the hands of an Alberta Lawyer. Ninety days after the Summary Trial there is but a wall if silence. While the Honourable Justice’s and practicing Lawyers celebrate in Golden Nugget events, I toil as a 64 year old labourer. The absolute most lying and corruption I have been subject to, occurred in the Edmonton Law Courts Building. All parties have been exonerated for their part in the seizure and sale of everything my family worked for. Welcome to Canada.
Thank you for this response! I was falsey accused in court and recorded it, and rhe judge was more concerned that we wasted their time waiting for a lawyer with legal aid, and immediately placed an order against me without any evidence, that has ultimately destroyed my life. The incompetence in our judicial system, and the fight to prove my innocence which is my Rights as a Canadian citizen has been denied. Unless of course, as the lawyer told me last week “if you can afford $20000, then you can have your chance to speak”
I don’t have $20,000. To prove my innocence. I’m a retired grandmother, forced to sell my vehicle, household belongings furniture tv my daughter guitar etc just to pay the court fees, and still denied a chance to prove my innocence. Alberta Courts are corrupt!
This same judge stated “innocent people go to jail all the time, I should know” … and Canadian Judicial protect the judge.
glad to see someone talking about this,, There is no accountability in the justice system, Self regulation has NEVER WORKED. So I say again, the fact that the dna industry worldwide is self regulated should be cause for alarm,, I know I am, today in the Vancouver sun, is yet another story about the legal aid situation ie lack of it,, and is suggesting that tribunals would work for domestic issues, I disagree if there is abuse involved in the marriage, the victimized partner is probably so traumatized they cannot deal with their issues and will just give away anything to get away, This does not protect women and children, But a traumatized person is desperate, and cannot focus on or deal with, their abuser, The issue of tribunals is a big problem, they are hired and paid by an organization, they are inherently bias toward that employer if they want more work, Not to suggest that we currently do not have bias and dishonest judges, but I doubt that replacing one biased worker with another is the solution, As of april 1st the legal aid workers out here are walking off, I think then we will see how the courts operate with no lawyers,
Great idea for a book on “accountability”!
What does it say when I submitted detailed documentary evidence proving that opposing counsel doctored the Alberta Rules of Court (Rule 4.29) by expunging the applicable subrule 4.29 (4. (d) for the purpose of obtaining an order for double costs against me (The Plaintiff).
What does it say about “accountability” when the ABQB Queen’s Bench Judge clearly saw, or ought to have seen the deletion of Rule 4.29 (4) (d) and failed to question why it was deleted? And,awarded double costs to opposing counsel representing the Defendant?
What does it say about “accountability” where on the basis of the standard on “a balance of probability”. That a Self-Represented litigant is assumed to be seen as an insignificant party in this, and many, many actions in our courtrooms.
This clear “error of fact and law”, was a concerted attempt to defraud this SRL of an amount exceeding $10’s of thousands.
If you require the factual documentary evidence as an entry for your book, it is readily available from me.
Julie knows how to contact me for copies of documents on this egregious ethical and outrageous violation of the “Rule of Law” with impunity.
I can tell you why Alex. That is because the then Associate CJ in Mead v Mead instructed judges to use cost awards to abuse SRLs while SRLs and every body else totally missed the point that the OCAs/OPCAs or whatever he called them was just another name for SRLs. And guess what we all sat down and never let a peak out in protest for like everybody else we thought the freemen on the land deserved it and that we are not like them. Once I spoke to an SRL who let me know some SRLs deserve being declared vexatious litigants though in my humble opinion he was most deserving of all.
I agree with your OPCA label being applied to all SRL’S initiated from Meads. I remember Julie writing an article on “conflation” at the time and thinking that it was analogous that because somebody rides a motorbike and wears a leather jacket doesn’t have to mean they’re a member of a bike gang. Branding all SRL’S as OPCA’S is just plain wrong and irresponsible and needs to be held to account.
We SRL’S are conducting ourselves in compliance with the rules of court.
I only wish lawyers and judges would do the same without adding and deleting to satisfy preconceived decisions.
I am not sure I want more administrative tribunals at all. Based on experience the only things in our justice system worse than badly behaved judges and lawyers are adjudicators at our administrative tribunals. I can attest to the bogus at labour boards and human rights tribunals and absolutely no one can get me to go to any ombuds-person in this country. Anyone in this process of change ideas can feel free to contact me for access to my experiences. I am of the view that those administrative tribunals should cease to exist and our courts have minor branches. So just as we have family division we should have the different divisions (at court)
I want judges held to account and restrained so that they are limited from digressing from the law and being abusive. We should not be running away from our courts because of any reason. Access to the courts is access to justice. We do need an inquiry though in such a case we would never be heard and only lawyers would have a say. Most would come and pretend to give a hoot when they do not. If they take any of us they find the ones they can man-handle and in any event what we say would not matter. However, I maintain the answer is not to run leave our courts to the select few. The courts must be for all the people
To Allen’s comments. I to know first hand how bad the tribunals are . http://alberta.newjusticeforthepeople.com/my-ohs-comments-and-opinions-from-my-experience/
This is even more terrible : Now the lawyers & judges Have case law that the tribunals decision does not have to be correct or according to the Law > It just has to be reasonable ?? So if they sad there was an investigation & they look at some evidence then that is reasonable ?? You cannot win at any tribunal until legislation is changed .
I will tell you that the Supreme Court of Canada denied me leave to appeal Federal Court of Appeal and Federal Court decisions that involved actually changing the legislation…they added words that were not there and ignored important terms that were.
So there is no point in more legislation…it will be re-written on the bench according to the Judge’s world view.
Well said Allen
I’m in! These people are a public danger and as a critically sick person my life has been put at risk recklessly and deliberately with no hesitation or remorse… I’m dealing with the most corrupt institution I’ve ever seen! Human Rights my left foot. I’ve experienced anything but
since the CJC/law societies protect judges/lawyers most of the time they have no fear of getting caught case fixing,and even if they are fair-they wrote the rules to protect themselves not us.the CJC has never taken a complaint of case fixing-which is criminal conduct.
A lawyer wrote a paper saying”despite the fact that codes of conduct allow/demand whistle blowing on fellow lawyers,it is very rare for lawyers to report misconduct of other lawyers”.
The U.N. says the role and functions of law societies in combating corruption in the judiciary should be acknowledged-but they dont care.
1989 SCC 89 says a judge may remain answerable for criminal acts before appointed” -but not after a judge-WHY NOT !!!! march 7 2019
A guy in Red Deer caught a lawyer and a judge entreating wrong doing against him. As soon as he filed the email in a case the lawyer was appointed judge. Then he was told they can’t act against the judge
the atlantic provinces trial lawyers association wrote an open {you can see on the web} oct 25 2017 letter to Jody Wilson-Raybould saying “lawyers are calling foul”,that most of the judges appointed were from the same law firm and were insurance company defence lawyers only-i take that as insurance co lawyers have no conscience so will fix cases if asked/told to.I wrote Jody a dec 10 2018 letter to back up why they wanted insur co lawyers only but she wasnt allowed to answer-david lametti answered with a jan 24 2019 letter saying complain to the CJC/law society.
SO NSRLP what can we do to fight for our right to use the courts with unbias treatment? do a mass class action all SRL constitutional challenge that the 1867 constitution allows us equal access to the courts in an unbias way etc ?the CJC/law societies wont enforce it-the SCC even redoes cases when to many judges ignore their rulings-which shows disrespect by judges of the SCC-the CJC dont care. mar 7 2019
I think that a good first step in the accountability discussion is to determine exactly what the Law Society of Ontario means when it states that it “is responsible for regulation of the professional conduct, competence and capacity of Ontario’s lawyers and paralegals” and that complaints will handled in a timely, open and efficient manner. I find the LSO sends out conflicting messages.
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When you make a complaint, the LSO response is more qualified. It advises that in general the “LSO does not investigate matters which involve legal issues and which are either already before a court or which could be raised with a court”, so there cannot be any litigation outstanding. The LSO rationale is that an investigation at this point would be prejudicial to the licensee. This is a valid concern, but there are 2 interests involved- the public and the licensee- and it is important for the LSO to ensure that those two interests are balanced. Not putting a thumb on the scale in one direction should not have the effect of putting both feet on the scale in the other.
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For example, in 2015, I complained that the lawyer for the estate trustees of my aunt and uncle:-
1. Had prepared estate accounts in passing of accounts format and these documents were riddled with errors:-
. (i) The initial values for the investments didn’t correspond to the values on the investment statements and were consistently lower than the proper figure.
. (ii) The initial values for bank accounts were lower than what was shown on the bank statements.
. (iii) Interest from the investments and bank accounts wasn’t included in Revenue Receipts.
The combination of these 3 errors/omissions meant that $32,000 (which was sitting in the lawyer’s trust account) didn’t appear in the estate valuation presented to the beneficiaries. Hmm. That’s a tidy windfall for someone.
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2. Had used $80,000+ from my aunt’s estate to pay expenses of my uncle’s estate- and this sum included litigation expenses to fight my motion to pass accounts!
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I documented these claims with copies of the lawyer’s own trust statements, the accounts she had prepared, and the investment and banking statements. The LSO would only investigate the second item (and that took 3 years and lots of nagging). On the first item, I was told to go back to court.
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Excuse me?!? Is the LSO the regulator or not?! Whether the error occurred by design or through incompetence THERE WAS A 5-FIGURE ACCOUNTING ERROR! This issue wasn’t grey! Why didn’t the LSO arrange a Spot Audit? This wasn’t a single person firm. At the time the lawyer was part of 40+ person firm which had an accounting department, but no-one had picked up either of the errors! Was the problem isolated to one lawyer or was it more widespread? Why didn’t the LSO consider it important to find out? Certainly, it is unlikely that my case was the only one which had accounts prepared in this fashion. Why should the LSO’s investigation wait until a member the public has the time -and money- to go back to court a second or even a third time?! How many other people will be adversely affected during this ‘waiting period’?
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The disturbing pattern of multiple complainants for the cases which reach the Tribunal makes me think that this ‘delaying’ is common practice in LSO investigations- and the public is bearing the brunt of it. I think it is time for the LSO to re-examine its approach.
Great comments from all, and it is plain to see that everyone has done their due diligence before posting. One part of Colin Alexander’s blog that stands true to our judiciary and lawyers alike is his quote by Lord Acton: “POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT, AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY”. I know that Colin only submits a partial excerpt of Lord Acton’s quote but that is the full quote. I see this as the perfect summation of what and why we are all suffering what could be best described as conspiratorial BIAS in our (in) justice and illegal system. It’s an outrage and unconscionable!!!
The SNC-LAVALIN SCANDAL is only the tip of the iceberg of the benefits afforded to “insider’s” that is currently exposed. But, my guess is that the new Attorney General will capitulate and reverse the criminal charges because they see SNC too big to prosecute and too big to fail and jail.
What chance do “outsiders” like SRL’S have unless the Supreme Court start granting “outsider’s” like SRL’S hearings!
Which raises the question of: just how many SRL’S exactly, have been granted a hearing before the Supreme Court in the last 5,000 or more submissions?
how many SRL’S exactly, have been granted a hearing before the Supreme Court in the last 5,000 or more submissions?
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Thanks for clarifying that K.
1 out of 5000 or more…that is 10 times worse than the survival rate of CANCER! Is this also a CANCER on our CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS?
Namely:
Legal Rights
7. Everyone has the right to life,liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of FUNDAMENTAL JUSTICE.
Equality Rights
15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal benefit of the law without discriminationand, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or etnic origin,colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law , program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of DISADVANTAGED individuals or GROUPS […]
I know most or all of the posting members probably know the Charter very well.But I thought if it is spelled out it makes for a stronger emphasis.
My point is that if this same record happened towards a particular group or ethnic origin upon applying for a job at Wal-Mart 1 out 5000 would be declared DISCRIMINATORY!
This is a shameful record, SRL’S are obviously considered inept or mentally incapable etc. And to what I read in all the posts in this NSRLP group, we are all capable and display a real concern for the “Rule of Law” and “Right from Wrong”. We just want to be HEARD, and not TOLD!
After all it is termed a HEARING, is it not?
Our rights and freedoms go far deeper than the Charter. In fact s. 26 of the Charter refers to our true rights and freedoms, even though they are not specified in that document, which most find is nothing but a smoke screen and allows Judges to substitute their opinions and life views for our inalienable rights.
I hope everyone looks up and relies on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both signed and guaranteed in 1976 by Her Majesty and held as binding by the SCC in R v. Divito.
The Charter is attached to a corporate Constitution. The covenants are stand alone human and property rights guarantees. The government and the justice system has spent billions to keep us from knowing and using our true rights.
What is done to SRLs is cruelty and inhumane by any standards when you look at the consequences for the SRLs. But it is a way to transfer wealth and assets from the lower classes to the elite.
no one is hearing us, I actually had a supreme court judge tell me,, who my childs father is, Unless that man was in the same room as me when she was conceived,, that is an uninformed and biased declaration, I of all people know who her father is. Because I said the dna test has been frauded,, and I want full disclosure of the file, and an examination of the evidence, the file was illegally transferred to another district, I was NOT ADVISED OF THIS, when I went BACK to court with proof of this,, ie,, the examination room booking receipt, the judge disregarded it all, declared me vexatious for coming back, and then TOLD ME,, who my childs father was, to me this is incredible gall. And a really classic example of the courts disregarding the voices of the self represented, especially when we are asking for rights.
When the judge desperately needs to shut you up just know the tool for that is a Vexatious Litigant Order (VLO). That will subdue the SRL and literally put them in a handcuff and just know no application or anything that SRL files will be allowed and the lawyer will have a filed day filing motion after motion that will always be granted. Once a judge tried to only allow me to respond tothe other lawyers activities but I could not initiate anything, He forgot I was plaintiff so the case went nowhere until they threw it out .
On one occasion the lawyer went to another judge and filed an ex parte application to dismiss my case when the rules require him to go to the case management justice. I just saw an order turned up at my home and my VLO tied my hand. I did not bother to go after him and so my daughter has had to live with her injured foot from an accident in which a driver ran over her foot in front of her school. Another judge had previously told the first lawyer to settle the case instead they went and got another lawyer
I am long ready to join a Class Action against Alberta Judges/govt. but I am not really keen to be with all those who should join that class. A few years ago I tried to get one going but so many had their head in the wrong place and uttered things I could not join with. We need a sensible group to be the class reps and it only takes a few to get the action going
I presume that you have about 20 more years to live, at least?
You want to go back to lawyers to handle a class action? Rarely do the clients in a class action see much money in the end, but the lawyers become millionaires (on both sides of the aisle of course).
Better to change the style of government to one run by the People instead of corporations disguised as governments.
Thanks Allen, yes I’m familiar with CJ’s comments basically branding us because we make their life difficult.
That’s not the Charter that we are all supposedly entitled to be equal to, under and before the law. The fact is that we are not equal and they spin the language in an attempt to bamboozle us thinking we are all stupid.
If they didn’t have ABSOLUTE power via “judicial independence” and “judicial immunity” it would be a different fight. Then we would indeed be equal before and under the law and that’s what makes all the difference! In my experiences the judiciary with a few exceptions are “an old pals club” rampant with “tribalism” and even “cronyism”. They work in lockstep with one another with a goal to rid the courts of SRL’S. In actuality they fear us because we aren’t afraid to challenge them. By contrast, lawyers play into their power game in fear of meeting the same judge in subsequent cases. They are no different than any other sphere of businesses, family or organization where we are all “tribal” with one another. It’s human nature, inbred in all of us the moment we’re born. Judges are expected to be above that, otherwise they have no right being a judge. That’s all lip service as they are people first, only a small segment live up to their “oath of office”, sad but true.
ok,,, now the last question,, I said a while back that we should sue them,,, I mean it, I just don’t know how we would do that in a justice system that we are suing, if anyone else wants to sue them for bias, abuse of process, lying etc etc,, bullying,, I am on board, we certainly have the numbers for this, And we have the case histories to support what we are saying, So,,, what do we do to get started,
Good point Sandra
I just submitted a couple of more posts that may help answer your questions.
I believe that we are as a group being discriminated against so it would have to be in that area. Read my new posts please.
Thanks
To answer your question directly Sandra, firstly I feel your pain as I and the others are suffering similarly. You’re talking about a “class action” lawsuit but you cannot sue a judge. Ironically, you can sue The Queen, The PM, the government of Canada but you cannot sue a judge due to “Judicial Immunity”.
A lawsuit would have to be against the PM (government of Canada) and The Minister of Justice and Attorney General would act as the government lawyer. SRL’S could possibly make a case for “discrimination” against our group and would have to be framed as a violation of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms working up from the Superior Court – Appeal Court all they way to the Supreme Court if necessary. This was successful in the Khadr v PM (government of Canada) case but Khadr was lawyered up to the hilt. I feel it is of serious “public importance” and that’s the criteria that must be met at the SCC. 1 out of 5000 submissions is proof positive that SRL’S are not taken seriously, it just doesn’t compute to fairness or equality nor does it appear to meet the standard or claim of The Rule of Law.
That’s my take on your question but I stand to be corrected as I am not a lawyer.
That was more like .4 out of 5,000. The SCC watered down and limited that case, Pintea v. John so much it hardly did anything. That should not be given a full case value. That is less than 1
Actually, I’ve been brushed off twice when I tried to bring Pintea v. Johns forward.
I have said repeatedly,, I see no improvements at all in the judicial system Yet Julie and the gang insist that it is happening,, every time a court case is won,,, the courts attacks seem to be more vindictive, I suggested a class action, if this is not likely,, what then, because clearly just posting here is doing nothing,
Sandra class action under the current state of affairs will not work. Cannot set the fox to guard the hen house. What judge is going to act against the judiciary? We need to aim elsewhere and individuals cannot do that either. We have to form a class but not for class action. We will not get justice in courts
I am beginning to think the LSO and other Law Societies simply lack the funding to self-govern as well as they are too protective of their own membership, often making excuses for poor conduct. They are not arms-length and benefit from being Joint Account holders on Solicitor Mixed Trust Accounts per Law Society Act and Rules of Professional Conduct. And are likely in conflict re directing trust account interest to Law Foundation when in fact a fiduciary duty applies to the client trust capital and interest earned which is NOT paid to beneficial owners of the trust. Lawyers dont necessarily (ever?) disclose this. Instead, they (some) say the funds do not earn interest which is a complete mistatement. Interest is earned on the funds and should be paid to beneficiaries not to Law Foundations. This is a conflict of interest and breach of fiduciary duty. Interest on first and last month rents must be paid out to tenants by landlords. Why does this not apply to Solicitor Mixed Trust Accounts? Is the Law Foundation / Law Society as a joint account holder, liable to beneficiaries? I expect so. Who wants to open that Pandora’s Box?
Let’s add to this interesting mix of accountability. Would you be
surprised to get an inside glimpse of a well established and respected
law firm that only practices the law outside the firm? Where
bullying, harassment, intimidation, and constructive dismissal are
applauded, practiced, and rewarded? Where the unspoken and forbidden
tactics of lawyers is to bill a client to a certain threshold before
they actually start doing any real work for their client. Where a
client gets a notification that a certain step in their legal process
now has to be adjourned and postponed due to an unexpected event that
is out of their control, such as a lawyer now claims they have to
attend a trial, or opposing counsel is sick, or they need more time to
prepare because of new information or evidence? When the reality is
your lawyer just got invited to play golf, or is leaving for a last
minute vacation opportunity. I see this day in and day out. The
administrative staff have to mislead the client about their matter and
why it is taking so long. How do you fix that kind of accountability?
Your lawyer and opposing counsel actually call each other up and say
“Hey, I have this thing, would you mind backing me up on this? I
really want to play golf”. A few smiles, and some laughter, and both
lawyers are on board. Then both parties are told something far from
the truth, and their agony drags on. This is the unspoken reality, I
know, I have watched this happen over and over again, and my stomach
churns as I have to fax or email this untruth to a client that is
going through hell, and paying through the nose to try and end that
hell. Yup! I am a legal assistant for a senior partner. Yes, I have
to do this on a regular basis. Yes, it is disgusting behaviour, and
it happens all the time. Accountability in the justice system is a
toxic poison that flows freely through every vein and artery of the
justice system. I know. The lawyer creates the shit and the legal
assistant has to shovel it.
Charlene, you are brave and you know the truth so your information and documents are worth more than their weight in gold! I look forward to reading at least 3 times every word you say because I expect it will be VERITAS!
Best Regards;
Delmer O. B. Martin
Stage 1 below
https://wordpress.com/view/solicitorsnegligence.home.blog
Good on you Colin Alexander. It’s important to know that people with a voice and an audience beyond the legal system are watching and calling it like it is.
MAKE WORK PRACTICE IS FINANCIAL ABUSE
Protracted, make-work practice, is theft. Appropriate remedies (criminal charges) are required to arrive at meaningful transparency and necessary change. The moral injury caused by stealing people’s invaluable, limited time on the planet in order to earn oneself a living, is both business as usual and life destroying to Canadian’s already in legal crisis. Studies show that the more vulnerable the person is, the more likely they are to be re-victimized by those with a ‘duty of care” to them. It’s easy for lawyers to use, silence and dismiss people knowing their actions will most likely be protected, thus condoned by the profession. It is legal financial abuse, it is rampant and it has to stop.
Pick a party, any party, document the unfolding of their action and in far too many cases, it will reveal a litany of emotional abuse, broken promises, misinformation, outright lies, coercion, bullying, threats, head games, mismanagement and endless unnecessary frustration that can literally break people’s spirit. I had a lawyer who was disbarred. It was both heartbreaking to watch her demise and absolutely necessary that she be removed. The lawyer who took over her files, admitted that she ruined countless people’s lives (including mine.) I commend the Law Society for taking right action when they do, as the number of lives any one lawyer can impact (both positively and negatively) is far-reaching. Removing even a few, will protect many.
Systemically abused victims, have an ethical obligation to warn the public coming after them, about the very real risks to their future and how to potentially protect their own legal interests when the system fails to do so. We need books, blogs, radio programs, investigative reports, documentaries, public education, peer support services, restitution programs, legal proceedings, to lobbying parliament and other action to bring the full extent of the criminal acts being perpetrated from inside the hallowed halls of justice, into the full light of day.
SUNSHINE ACT
Just as the medical profession is required to disclose conflicts of interests and financial gains under varying forms of the Sunshine Act, the legal industry must become equally as transparent. The amount of lip-service paid to the parts of the problem that are acceptable to speak to, are too little too late and do nothing whatsoever to help those currently suffering legal abuse.
INFORMED CONSENT
Dr’s are legally bound to provide informed consent, which by and large, they do NOT provide, resulting in death, disability and addiction. Lawyers must be required to provide informed consent to those purchasing their services BEFORE they find themselves broke and abandoned as self-represented litigants vulnerable to a system that, per the research, is largely prejudiced against them as a group.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST SRL
There are serious human rights violations occurring against Canadian at the mercy of the enormous power the legal system wields over them on a daily basis. Further, if I understand correctly, the legal industry is a federal body, and as such people exposing theft and corruption therein, should enjoy whistle-blower protection (as toothless as it is) and crimes be invested by the RCMP.
The time to act, with or without the systems support, has long since past. This is a serious public crisis, that without the public itself taking the reigns of action on, little to nothing will change. Self-regulation is an inherent perversion of justice that undoubtedly incentivizes every manner of abuse committed against the public interest. The costs, losses and hardships to the social fabric are incalculable.
Thank you for your timely service to humanity Mr. Alexander. I will be looking for you.
I absolutely love Colin Alexander’s description of: “A chasm of accountability”. I would even go deeper that there is a “Black Hole” of accountability and into the Abyss is a reflection of dismissed and destroyed SRL’S, gloating lawyers and frowning judges.
A public voice like Colin Alexander might just be what the NSRLP needs to amplify their ongoing efforts.
The late great environmentalist, Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology: “everything is connected to everything else.”
This is that. A few of the predators actually went to prison.
THE GUARDIANS is a revealing investigative documentary set in Las Vegas that exposes allegations of corruption within the Nevada Guardianship and Family Court system. The film shines a light on a lucrative business that drains seniors’ life-savings. Victims and their families are caught in a scheme that has allowed corrupt court-appointed guardians to take total control over individuals’ healthcare and financial decisions.
https://www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel/docs/the-guardians
This is one lively blog, here is more food for thought:
For “accountability” to hold someone, something or some ruling body must be “responsible”. Either the “Law Societies” “The Courts” “The Minister of Justice and Attorney Generals” “The PMO or the Government” “Lawyers” or all of the above! Which brings me to the legal Latin term of “RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR” which means “let the master answer”.
This is a doctrine in the law which imputes liability to the employer or the Master for the negligence of a servant or employee while performing work within the scope of his/her duties to treat or serve in “good faith” in their place of employment. Bhasin v. Hrynew was a perfect example of how this ought to be dealt with and it is binding SCC precedent to boot, and throughout this blog, most of you touch on the interconnectivity that could perhaps be described as a “domino effect”. No matter what! The doctrine is clear “let the master answer”. Someone or something is responsible for a system that is broken!
Who then is the Master, is it the “system of THE APPOINTING government” “the lawyers taking advantage of the disadvantaged” “the Judges abusing their power” “the Minister of Justices and Attorney General and PMO” such as what was exposed in the SNC-LAVALIN affair etc. etc. How did it get this bad, why are SRL’S looked upon as insignificant citizens? Are we really pariah’s on the legal system that we appear to be by those in power to either save or destroy our lives?? The intelligence that I see before me in any of the NSRLP blogs says there is no pariah’s here!
Hello All:
If any of you have actually sued a lawyer for solicitor’s negligence you will have personally been exposed to and witnessed the highest level of corruption-Conflict of Interest aka the Systematic Travesty of Justice-. I have been on this blog since it started and I am thrilled to read the succinct comments that are clearly demonstrating that there are more people than ever, that are awake and aware to the strategic factual truth(s) about our so called justice system. The absolute best method to expose the truth is to document and analyze and expose what occurs at the HIGHEST levels of power BECAUSE when one does this it corroborates EVERYTHING evil that occurs to SRL and in all the courts and tribunals and in governments themselves at ALL the lower levels . I say lets share and expose the truth about corruption at the very top, it’s mostly all “hidden in plain view” and it completely incorporates EVERYTHING that happens in the lower levels. WARNING: one ABSOLUTELY MUST stay focused because every possible oppressive psychological theory AND practice is stacked against the plaintiff AND in favor of the defendant solicitor or “official” .
I share all of the pain on this blog because once I did have the nasty experience dealing with a completely biased judge in a me$$y divorce trial where I was forced to be Self Represented Litigant in a 11 day trial. However where I am completely ashamed AND disgusted, is that I have actually spent over $435,000.00 in “legal advice” and court costs over the past 19 years regarding control of my family farm (which I solely bought and paid for in 2000) and just as I have persevered thru everything but the scheduled final pre-trial, my pretrial date temporarily “got disappeared” where we were to set the trial date. I would love to hear more about NEGLIGENCE LITIGATION (especially SOLICITOR’S NEGLIGENCE cases because this is where the “root of all the justice problems are completely exposed. The only good news is that I intend to persevere because I know the truth! and certainly not despite so do “they” !
Best Regards;
Delmer O. B. Martin
Delmer, are you located in Ontario? If you are, can you contact me at gracejodance at gmail dot com? I have a good idea and need a colleague to work it with me.
Forget suing a lawyer to get your money back. Even when the trial judge states emphatically that the lawyer missed the limitation period, failed to plead properly and failed to make the nexus between the damages and the defendant’s behavior, LawPro in Ontario will do everything it can to prevent a hearing on the merits.
(a separate case) Forget suing a lawyer to get your money back if the trial judge was so outraged by your lawyer’s (same one as above) behavior — failure to serve and file an expert report and summons the expert — that he yelled at you for an hour when you had to appear alone to request another adjournment of the trial because the lawyer abandoned your file without notice. LawPro in Ontario will do everything it can to protect this disgrace of a human being…now for 2 years.
While they tell you to get a lawyer, they do nothing to protect you when you do.
don’t know if this will help,, I did NOT try to sue a lawyer, I filed an attempt to sue the judge, and the ministry of the attorney general, for allowing expert evidence into the court without following proper procedure for the admittance of expert evidence, I was looked at by the judge who heard this as if I had 5 ears, His comments were, YOU CANT SUE A JUDGE,, this is reprehensible, . I agree, if I have to point out as I did, that judges are not doing their jobs, not following proper court procedure, and allowing evidence in without following the rules of expert evidence, it is reprehensible, lawyers are basically thugs,, and will try anything,, what is the judge doing sitting there? picking their nose?? there are court procedural rules for the admission of expert evidence,, no one is following them, There are consequences for not following court rules,, no one is applying them, as I said,, I give up,, you can take a cat to the waterhole but cannot make him swim, These people are just past everything,, I think our last option is to sue,,, but not just a bad lawyer,, we would be here forever, we need the system itself made to understand there are consequences for refusing to follow the law,, and their own procedural rules, Got any ideas
Hello Sandra:
I agree with your points however growing up on a farm i once observed a wild barncat chasing a mouse right next to a creek and the cat slipped and fell into the creek and got “dragged downstream” by the strong current. The cat forgot all about the mouse and it frantically and automatically paddled (swam) towards shore and safety. The point is that truly the only “safe thing” that the Justice System can do is serve the people, and not expect anything else.
Best Regards;
Delmer O. B. Martin
While we can’t sue a judge we can get them criminally charged and much of what they are doing is criminal: Do not expect the police to lay the charge though but with the right noise in the right place and exposure trust me even judges can be dealt with through proper legal process.
Although you can’t sue a judge I am willing to wager that the case you filed naming that judge has cost him/her something. Once I objected to a certain appointment and threaten to hold up placard if the person was appointed (they can lay charge for this against such a protester-depending on how smart/foolish you protest). Well let’s just say that was how the mighty person was moved from being front-runner for that appointment and you guessed right, somebody else was appointed
Hello Grace:
Unfortunately I am far too deep into my LawPro case to consider anything but persevering. I am simply asking for reimbursement for damages caused by lawyer dollar for dollar. The good news is affidavit of docs and discovery and mediation and motions have long been completed and so now I look forward to a brutal 2 week trial asap. Since I am convinced I am dealing with demons I have even made arrangements in my will to complete this case with LawPro just in case something happens to me. Check out https://wordpress.com/view/solicitorsnegligence.home.blog which is stage 1. in my case.
Perfect summation and input! I cannot believe all this grief from a travesty in justice system is happening in Canada!
Many of us agree that self-regulation works against the public interest. Then, why do not we protest against self-regulation? Institutions should be governed by the public, not by the few people who calls them as experts. By handing out the ruling to elites who separate themselves from the public as experts and use procedures and language that are not understandable to common people, we allow them to create a huge disconnect between their understanding of ruling and the common people’s understanding of ruling. When we accept that a legally trained judge can understand and address the medical issues or engineering issues when it is explained to him/her in a plain language in a common sense way, why are we having difficulty to accept that common people, who are reasonably educated, can also understand and address the medical, engineering or even legal issues when it is explained to them in a plain language in a common sense way? The elites and common people divide only help the few people who call them experts to enjoy the power and privileges while oppressing the majority of common people. This has to stop. When institutions are regulated by the public, these experts will be forced to use procedures and language that are understandable to common people. If many of us are in agreement that self-regulation works against public interest, we all have to come together to protest against self-regulation and advocate for public regulation.
Ok,, so now we ALL SEEM TO AGREE,,, self regulation is not working,, never did,, and the entire judicial system is corrupt and not providing justice to anyone self represented,, if at all to anyone, Now what, we can say this over and over, like we have been doing for the last few years,, or we can actually try to stop this shit show, What is anyone suggesting we actually DO, to change things, I await answers,
If you live in Ontario, contact me at gracejodance at gmail dot com. Some of us are working toward solutions that make sense.
thank you grace,, but I live in BC. however it seems the same plague on the justice issue exists in varying degrees across canada
I believe there are many initiatives that can be taken. For example, I’ve just sent a brief email to four of the five former Attorneys General whose recent letter to the Commissioner of the RCMP has received some media attention (you can find a Scribd copy of the letter online). Their letter has inspired me to write a similar one to the Commissioner to ask that the RCMP review what I claim is evidence that the Canadian Judicial Council’s creation of the Executive Director’s autonomous gatekeeper role was (and remains) contrary to the mandate the CJC receives from the Judges Act.
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When I have composed and sent off that letter I’ll share it with the same journalists who brought the former A.G.’s letter to the public’s attention and see if they’ll consider doing the same with my letter.
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I expect that in due course both of those letters will elicit some sort of response from the RCMP. Those responses too should be shared with the public.
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Or how about the idea of an SRL / access to justice class action? Putting together one that would have some prospect of success would not be easy. E.G., my guess is that it would have to pertain to a certain specific group of SRLs (I’ve long had one in mind). There is a professor at the University of Windsor who is something of an expert on class actions. Her name is Jasminka Kalajdzic – http://www.uwindsor.ca/law/kalajj/ . Perhaps she could be enticed to consider the prospects for an SRL / access to justice class action.
Hi Chris,
If you are thinking about class action, I am in. I support your view that it has to pertain to a certain specific group in order to increase the prospect of success. In my view, if that group include the groups of people who are protected by section 15 of the charter, it will bring constitutional importance and increase the prospect of success to the class action.
I was unable to find online the letters of 5 attorney generals that you referred to in your last comment. If you share those letters through google drive or any other similar online sharing method, other people, including me, may also think about writing a letter to the commissioner.
Koba
Yes, we are all excited at the thought of a class action, but remember that (a) class actions cannot be brought by self-litigants and (b) must be handled by a lawyer.
So, in what real world do you think a lawyer is really going to fight for your right not to use his services?
I think we need a different style government and elected judges…with common law courts of justice. I doubt that nothing else will work…hasn’t in 200 years – ask the First Nations people.
YES, WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE, I would also be very concerned about “parliamentary privilege” and or other “immunity” road blocks that would be pleaded IF Class Action is even certified to proceed however my TOP CONCERN would be the fact that these elite and especially lawyers have between 1-2 million in insurance coverage to pay other top tier elite lawyers to completely look after them. What really adds insult to injury is that lawyers/judges/ and other individual professional elite pay under $4k per year for this coverage. I believe the only way to penetrate the veil for a final solution is to expose the COMPLETE CONFLICT OF INTERST! In my case which based on documented evidence and should have been a slam dunk I have now been forced to mortgage my family farm and pay over $450K in lawyers fees and court costs while the guilty lawyer and law firm are only out of pocket literally nothing and even when they lose they have between 1-2 million in liability coverage. As I have always said OUR CHARTER HAS NO TEETH and the real question is; Who is Serving WHOM?
True Grace. I approached many lawyers previously and they all backed down. Some cowardly did not even answer. I was so disappointed with one in particular for that one claims to be all about Charter rights. apparently that means selected ones
I just learned that “self-represented” litigants cannot make or file a “class action” suit for the fact that we (SRL’S) are not licensed to practice law. We would need to have it pled by a lawyer, bad news but that is a fact of law. We can sue the Minister of Justice or the PM’s office individually but not in a class action.
we would not be launching a class action to have the right NOT to hire a lawyer,,, no one is fighting for that,, We are wanting to file a class action to address the habits of the judges and lawyers who discriminate against the self represented. And I already tried to sue individually, They just disregard you and go all righteous indignation on you, Also,,, the very act of saying the self represented cannot access the act of a class action,, is yet another example of discrimination against a group of Canadians seeking justice, I believe our only option is to try a class action, Whether we handle it or not, is another issue,, but to decide to launch one is the right of every Canadian, Sections of the law that specify that anyone without a lawyer cannot access the law, is exactly why we are needing to address this matter,
laws tailored to block access to the law targeting the self represented is exactly what is wrong,, Lawyers and judges altering court rules and procedures to target the self represented is also what is wrong here, And there is a section of the charter that specifically states, thereare to be no blocks on access to justice, If you cannot afford lawyers, and we all agree that is how most of us ended up self representing,, Or the lawyers you do find are not listening to what is being said,, and refusing to handle your case properly, that is also blocking access to justice, high court filing fees etc, are also blocks on access to justice,, and judges who discriminate against you because you are self represented, is a block on access to justice,, And I haven’t even GOTTEN to the large group of us being declared vexatious and blocked from court because we ARE SELF REPRESENTED, That is why we need a class action, The judicial systems across Canada have been pulling this crap now forever, And we have been the victims of it, That is our charter rights they are stealing my friend, That is what is going to stop,
Perhaps appealing to the Insiders, more people like legal Assistant Charlene Jemison need to speak up because obviously they are at the base of the real truth.
Collusion among lawyers, who are witnessed by their own staff, laughing about their power at tormenting clients, needs to be whistled, reported, screamed from law firm and courthouse roof tops.
But then, the consequences become like that of the SRL, you begin to get blackballed in your efforts to do the right thing, follow rules and find you have to fight for justice when you’re not the Justice League.
Mr. Colin Alexander I believe you will like this web site http://alberta.newjusticeforthepeople.com/ it has proof of many horror stories in the justice system. Kudos to all that are sharing. The public needs to know of these horrific travesties in the courts across Canada. Thank you all.
Question # 1: Isn’t it comforting to know that we Canadians have The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically Sec. 2. Fundamental Freedoms, Sec. 7. Legal Rights, Sec. 12. Treatment or Punishment, Sec. 15. Equality Rights, Sec. 24. Enforcement. inter alia. We have a surety of all these “rights” because it is written and certified by our government!
Hold on, just hold on, not so fast!
Because it is written and certified, do we really have these rights that the government purports we have under all the aforementioned sections expressing The Rule of Law?
Question #2. Does any individual, company, politician, lawyer, administrators in power positions, et al have the right to circumvent, deny, manipulate, lie, deprive or obscure any individual Canadian from the rights clearly expressed in The Charter?
If the practised actions show that they can conduct all of the said inappropriate acts? Then The Charter is not worth the paper it is written on, or the constructs who devised it, their time and effort?
It is crystal clear by all the input in this NSRLP site that SRL’S have no rights as specified in the Charter. When we are all “clumped” as OPCA’S, Vexatious Litigants, 1 out of 5000 or more is how incompetent the SCC see us in raising issues of “public importance”. Are we really that ill-advised or worse yet, illiterate? I’ll bet most on this particular blog know due process and procedures as well, if not better, than a lot of lawyers!
This is flagrant “defamation” “discrimination” and “persecution” of the most vulnerable individuals seeking access to justice in this power controlled legal system. This is akin to autocratic countries such as Venezuela or some other 3rd world country that Canada send millions of our tax dollars to help change. Think about that for a minute!
Canadian Judicial Council wrote to me and stated that judges have a discretion to reject their own transcript of trial as evidence. I made a claim under our charter of rights and named Parliament as the “court of competent jurisdiction” to perform the checks and balances upon the judiciary as provided by the constitution. Attorney General David Lametti just ignored it, despite his duty to protect the public. How is a court that can reject any and all evidence possible providing canadians with fundamental justice or fair and impartial justice?
All I will say is, they will continue to ignore us and mock us with nonsense arguments until we gather together in a proper group to have strength in numbers to inform them that we can stymie their political ambitions and careers by turning up on their campaign trail come election time and/or promotion or appointment time. I intend to make a call to arm soon and I hope you all will answer for otherwise they will continue to pick us off one by one and ignore us as insignificant to their careers and political ambitions
Hi Allen,
My name is Lucy. I started a child support case in 2016, I represented myself during the trial in Nov. 2019. Today is December 7, 2023, I got dismissed for leave to appeal from SCC today. I am not surprise as a SRL. After the long litigation experience of 7 years, I agree with you that we should gather together in a proper group to make a louder voice. I will join the group if there is one.
I had the pleasure to be before the inventor of OPCA Litigant the Honourable Associate Chief Justice Rooke who was the acting Chief Justice of Alberta in May 2017 when he threatened me, an SRL, that “the next time you come, you better bring your toothbrush” as his last words to me prior to adjourning; pretty certain he was not inviting me to his house for a sleepover the next time I was in court in Edmonton. I filed a CJC complaint and Sabourin dismissed it outright arguing I had no credibility and that I was making bald unsupported statements without any evidence which I believe is a fancy way to say that I was making it all up which is very interesting since I provided Sabourin a true copy of the transcripts which attested to the Acting Chief Justice’s threats under oath and in Court.
Normally the SRL versus A lawyered up Defendant is a David and Goliath situation! However, reading Mr. Drover’s post and all the other posts including my own. There are three Goliaths for SRL’S to deal with, with the Judge being the dominant “Goliath” second to the “Defendant” followed by the 3rd Goliath in the body of the “CJC”.
Add up the financial costs of ink, paper and filing fees etc., and we SRL’S do not even have a stone or catapult in which to fight these “Goliaths”. Something is very wrong here, “equality” is non-existent. Normally any “power abused group” would file a Charter breach “class action” but SRL’S are blocked from doing that because we do not have a licensed to represent the law as a downtrodden group.
We really need a pro bono lawyer to represent our cause but what are the chances of that happening?
Let it be clear,we are not OPCA’S and cannot be “branded” or “clumped” as such! We have MERITS but our merits are being ignored, disregarded or simply given zero credibility under the invented and targeted OPCA banner. Despite our hard and documentary evidence! We are here to stay so embrace us, do not reject us, we are fundamentally and legally looking for the reality of “impartial justice” that we are purported to have as Canadians.
further proof that being nice and simply saying this is wrong,, is getting us nowhere, The courts do not listen to the self represented, and actually victimize us for having the gall to call them on it, We have no options left, A class action law suit is really the last stand so to speak,,
There is other effective procedure but we need to properly organise and we need numbers
Dear Dan,
Could you send us the citation for your case please?
Thank you
Julie
Julie, to directly answer your question here you go:
Action No.: 1603 21383
E-File No.: CVQ17DROVERD
Appeal No.: _____________________
IN THE COURT OF QUEEN’S BENCH OF ALBERTA
JUDICIAL CENTRE OF EDMONTON
BETWEEN
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND GEOSCIENTISTS OF
ALBERTA
Applicant
and
DAVID HOWARD DROVER
Respondent
________________________________________________________________________
P R O C E E D I N G S
Donald Best had commented to me recently that it would be a very good idea to share with the public as many as possible of Norman Sabourin’s letters. Mr. Best has received at least one and I’ve received two such letters (as well as some rather ill-considered emails). The links to copies of the two letters I received (in 2010 and 2012) are – http://www.uncharted.ca/images/users/ssigurdur/2010_cjc_decision.pdf and http://www.uncharted.ca/images/users/ssigurdur/20120803_letter_from_cjc.pdf .
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Note that in the 2012 letter he cited what was then section 2.2 of the Complaints Procedures (created in 2003). In 2015 the CJC played some more games and replaced that section 2.2 with some other language. But the terminology they use is irrelevant because the result remains arbitrary.
Dave,
I have several very similar experiences with the CJC. My initial complaint was a judge who lost control over a proceeding and CJC of course denied it saying they could find no evidence of that, and when presented with the official transcript of trial where I state “you have lost control over this proceeding” refused to respond. I did however make a complaint about a judge who when presented with the official transcript of trial ( that demonstrated that a lawyer incorrectly wrote up a court order when I had my rights to approve as to form denied ) called up personally my ex-wife to the stand and asked her what she heard the judge say 6 months previously and used his “judicial discretion” to ‘prefer’ that testimony. The CJC said that federal judges have the duty to weigh evidence up to and including their own official transcript of trial. I’ve written to the attorney general’s office of Canada and requested that the matter be dealt with by parliament as it seems to me that means that the CJC is authorizing judges to dispense arbitrary justice in conflict with the Charter of Rights and fundamental justice.
The cjc claimed to me that judges have a discretion to ignore their own transcript of trial. I’ve also got two copies of a transcript of trial now because someone edited out troubling parts of the transcript. Doesnt bother them because they have a discretion to ignore the transcript….
Dave we need to form a group and publish such transcripts and have the likes of this one removed from office. To think he is still active on our Bench and even worse as Associate CJ. The likes of him is bound to talk to himself later and be plagued by his evil acts. I have seen it before. I have not encountered him personally but I have heard and seen evidence from transcripts. He is UNFIT for that office. The last one to be rude to me and told me he knows about my reputation, then told the qualified lawyer to make an application to him so he can dismiss my case. Well to get to the point they were both dismissed from my case after I embarrassed the lawyer and her law firm at Law Society (that’s all we can get from those fake law societies) and wrote to the judge demanding to know what he knows about my reputation and that I know more about their reputation than they can imagine. My letter to then CJ (bless him) had him gone and he gave me a judge as I asked who can read, have integrity, have decency to know right from wrong. I got 2 good judges who saw to my case. Although I did not get everything including the kitchen sink I asked for I am satisfied they tried to do justice
Mr. Colin Alexander, other bloggers who are telling their stories of corruption in the Canadian Judiciary are former Toronto Police turned whistleblower Donald Best @ https://donaldbest.ca and the other is the famed Arthur Kent @ http://www.arthurkent.ca, former news writer both who have stories about the Canadian Justice System and corrupt Federal Judges (formerly under Wilson-Raybould) and corrupt lawyers in Canada, protected by Law Socities, that will scare the wits out of any reasonable person and will certainly cause an SRL and other to seek Justice in the Canadian Justice System which really is an oxymoron. Remember Corrupt Lawyers before Judges and Corrupt Judges were likely corrupt lawyers so the system feeds on itself… if the lawyers are not upright the Judges wont be either!!! Canada’s justice system is irreparably broken because of insidious corruption, period. Go no further than the Charbonneau Commissioner which exposed corruption in Quebec’s building industry that was widespread that involved SNC…. this is old news in Quebec and now it has become widespread in Canada.
I did contact Wilson raybolds office asking her what she planned on doing to correct this mass corruption of the judicial system, to suggest they were rude and dismissive would be a gross understatement, I have no respect for this woman,, she may be claiming wonderful character now,, but she didn’t appear to have any when I contacted her office,
I would agree she didnt even reply to me
Federal Election is coming up. Let us plan well to organise well and turn up in sufficient numbers at all these political gatherings and make the treatment of SRLs in the justice system a REAL ELECTION ISSUE.
I showed up at Liberal Party 2016 Policy Convention with a policy proposal and trust me it got people scared especially a recently retired judge who was in attendance. The place was full of lawyers and the only support I had was a group of native women. The lawyers and their friends voted down my policy
Here’s one that is analogous to the “pot calling the kettle black”:
Alberta Queen’s Bench, Justice Denny Thomas wants to have a public access database naming all “vexatious litigants” because due to the incompetence of the ABQB a “vexatious litigant” got past him and appeared before him. Now, that person may deservingly have been a “vexatious litigant” or not, I don’t know. But the idea of having your name associated in a “public access database” such as they do with paedophiles or sexual assault convicted predators is absolutely absurd and hypocritical, especially coming from Justice Denny Thomas who screwed up badly in the Travis Bader murder trial by quoting repealed section 230 of the Criminal Code causing Vader’s murder conviction to be reduced to manslaughter. See: https://www.advocatedaily.com/none-crown-urges-vader-judge-not-to-declare-mistrial-can-fix-error-in-murder-verdict.html
Question: Who is more vexatious? Being mindful that the definition of “vexatious” is “annoying”, “irritating” “maddening” and so on…?
Travis Vader was found guilty of killing seniors Lyle and Marie McCann and Justice Denny Thomas nearly screwed it up by his incompetence. And, he wants to name and shame everyone who has been perhaps rightly or wrongly named a “vexatious litigant” See: https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/the-worst-i-have-ever-encountered-alberta-judge-places-new-restrictions-on-vexatious-litigant/wcm/2808632a-85d0-4bee-8ba7-09b9f64fcd4
Give me a break, is this the state Canadian Law now?
If I was Justice Denny Thomas I would have resigned in shame after the Vader debacle!!!
Correction: Ought to have said “Vader” and not “Bader” in the 1st mention of his name (typo), sorry.
Chris please check out a repository for CJC Response thanks to you 😉
https://canadianjudicialcouncil.wordpress.com/2019/03/23/help-expose-judicial-corruption-in-canada/
For those interested lease check out a repository for CJC Responses where the plan is to get enough CJC Response to either attest to corruption inside the CJC which is believe to be protecting Judges or to determine that there is no merit to these allegations, see link below:
https://canadianjudicialcouncil.wordpress.com/2019/03/23/help-expose-judicial-corruption-in-canada/
Also know that in 2013 there were 5 complaints against Federal Judges filed with the CJC and in 2014 that number increased to 54 and in the last year the CJC published these number in 2015 there was 131 complaints filed against Federal Judges that to the best of my knowledge were all dismissed by Norman Sabourin at the CJC hence this is the crux of the potential problem because out of almost 200 complaints against Federal Judges between 2013-2015 there is no way that all of these complaints had no merit and should have been dismissed. There is also likely no coincidence that the CJC stopped publishing these complaint numbers in 2015 when the Trudeau Government was elected and Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould took over the helm as Attorney General.
My name is Robert Freedland. I too have experienced extreme corruption in our courts here in Toronto. The CBC News (French language) aired a news piece about my case, and that of 2 other people, including a former lawyer now working as a Justice of the Peace in Ontario. . If you Google my name and CBC, it is the first thing that comes up. There is also a shorter, English news piece about my case posted by Canada Court Watch. The CJC , lead by a Norman S. is totally corrupt. Ontario’s law society also disciplines lawyers on a random basis, and such discipline will likely only occur if the news media are following the lawyers discipline case. All of the cases of judicial corruption, and cases involving crooked lawyers and judges need to be documented in the form of a feature length documentary film, or doc series. The general public are simply unaware of the scope and scale of corruption in our legal system. If you too have had experiences similar to mine,, feel free to reach out to me.
This is in reference to Robert Freedland
Ive tried contacting numerous media since January in regards to this Injustice that we experienced.
Yet havent recieved any replies. Im glad your voice was heard. Like others have stated we all need to be heard & have a chance at justice. The Media is only way I believe it can get message out there & also more voices heard.
I have experienced multiple acts of bias and corruption including a judge who ridiculed me for not speaking English to her liking.
The law society not punishing a lawyer despite having the email that lawyer had sent to my ex husband during my divorce sharing privileged information and asking him not to show me.
It goes on…
I would welcome joining a class action or any group effort to end this disgust.
I plan to get going soon with forming a group. There is always strength in numbers and we need to gather our strength. Judges are afraid of lawyers because they are a group. I am currently going after a labour board member and a panel of 3 judges who seemingly had no idea about basic labour law or labour board rules or even prohibited workplace behaviour such a sending hostile emails daily about another worker. They pretty much toss out my employment contract and impose an imaginary one they got out of their heads, even pretty much said an employee should steal the employer’s money and keep quiet so others can take what they want as well magically the months of August and September fall between October and November. I can never make such a catch and let it go. I am at the point where the AG just told me to go to the Minister of Labour but the Lt Governor’s office already passed on my message months before saying I want to engage the process to remove an unfit Labour Board member from office (they have no process to get rid of those and I am demanding one). I will get to that panel soon.
As a Jew and Israeli citizen who sues, in the Supeior Court of Justice in Toronto, the University of Toronto (Canada) for unlawfully terminating his Ph.D. studies and ignoring his official appeals for NINETEEN years (!!!) (one of the principal reasons of that was my public activity in fighting the Holocaust denial propaganda on this university’s campus), I am a permanent customer of the CourtCall (I used it three times already). However, all the three times I didn’t receive, in fact, the service I paid for: each time, after calling to the court at the scheduled time, I had to wait for hours (!!!) and when I disconnected (not being able to endure this torture any more!), the Judge declared (in an endorsement or order) that I “didn’t appear in the court”. The last time, on November 22, 2019, the Judge (Justice Faieta) called my case … just 2 hours 45 minutes after the time scheduled via the CourtCall and all this period of time I was supposed to hold online by my mobile phone and accordingly pay 2 dollars per a minute, even though the fee I paid to the CourtCall for my connection was not re-funded.
Besides, this court’s registrar just … refuses to fulfill his primary official duties in my case what, particularly, can be seen from the fact that for nearly three months he didn’t re-send me Justice Nishikawa’s endorsement on the defendant’s request to dismiss the case — until this crime was discovered by the judge who issued a special notice obliging him to do so! Please see https://imgur.com/a/DIJVFAp
My regular requests to provide me with any information are totally ignored! I am deprived of all rights in this court!
Whom should I appeal to for a help: to the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of the USA, Queen Elizabeth II, the Pope???
Canadian “Justice” is a big circus of money making!! Justice NEVER prevails!
that is pretty interesting and similar to my experience as I provided the transcript of trial to the judge and to the CJC and they both claimed the right to ignore the transcript arbitrarily contrary to fundamental justice in our charter of rights. contact me at trevor.holsworth at gmail.com
Can we write an article on Information privacy adjudicator tainted by Bias and in collusion with other municipal bodies, specifically with Ottawa police Services
A class action suit is definitely needed in addition to extreme inefficiency of the family responsibility office. I was married for 23 years to a Liberal politician who I found out was money laundering offshore with bankers , lawyers and politicians. My data and that of two investigators and the international investigative reporters matched exactly, and a dirty Justice in Milton court was in with the Hamilton mafia- as were 8 Milton court judges as judges are appointed by politicians who benefit from robing the public treasury. We had collusion of 3 lawyers with opposing counsel, 4 law firms colluding not to have banks court ordered to appear on the grounds of conflict of interest, other lawyers crafted multiple fraud via purposely flawed court orders to the banks, the striking of needed Anton Piller orders, striking witnesses, 4 law firms colluding not to have my marital agreement in court that highlighted both my signed marital and non marital rights, costs wrongly struck by a Justice with multiple conflicts of interest, the politician was allowed to use child alienation; Milton court allowed minimal disclosure of the liberal politician for 8 years -drag and drain-which was like the murder of Louise hawkley Sweeney – the court allowed wealthy men to cry artificial poverty despite having interests involving ethanol fuels and making huge amounts of money. The press has silenced the biggest scandal in Canada. We need to expose the stolen trillions of dollars and we do not need to impoverish our children due to covid costs .we need to jail immediately 27 plus bankers, politicians, lawyers in international crimes against humanity court.
I can hear all the “conclusions” of “conspiracy theory”. We know the truth and truth is, one actor cannot pull off these kinds of plans/activities. Look at the prospects for success of any court action against the court or politicians. The probability of that is nil-an impossibility. We need action and process we have some control over. These actors are so smug in their deception that they are not taking stock of the growing crowd they pit themselves against and they are hoping we will be a set of egotiists who cannot band together to take them down. They are counting on us to defeat us
Reply to Joan Montgomery
Other than being married to a politician ( mine was poor, bankrupt turned millionaire) your story resonates & speaks of my experience.
When does this corruption end. Not until 1st time in court for divorce did I ever believe this Actually is the reality. How can we all get justice
I am ready for a mass National Class Action, is anyone else? Who would take it on? Because I believe that is what it is going to take. For the citizens across the country to come together to file a mass tort similarly to the Soldiers / Veterans regarding the mefloquin mass tort action.
https://mefloquineawareness.ca/mefloquine-mass-tort-lawsuit-underway-in-canada/
I have found all of this very interesting. I believe one thing is true, the days of self-regulation need to end, regardless of what profession we are talking about. While it is true that regulation requires input from those being regulated, the subject-matter experts, it is also true that it requires equal representation from those being served by the regulated profession. Any argument that only subject-matter experts within the profession have the capacity to truly understand the issues is nonsense – absolute nonsense and anything else is a clear conflict-of-interest. I believer, like the author of the article, that the writing is on the wall – that meaningful change is coming. However, I cannot know the timeline for change or, honestly, if change will come – ever. Meaningful change will require entrenched forces desperately trying to preserve the status quo be removed. That may take generations so none of us currently living will live to see it. If the divisiveness currently in the world remains in play – take the war in Ukraine – it is not even clear if democracy will prevail or, the human race. I believe the justice system is doing the best it can within the constraints imposed by human nature. The challenge then is to change human nature or, at least, manage it. From what I have read above it that may be wishful thinking.
I am experiencing the most corrupted institution I have ever seen.. collusion between the Tribunal Chair, Tribunal and the Respondent, Ombudsperson, the human rights clinic, my doctors, multiple organizations blocking me from accessing legal assistance, it’s nuts! And I have a boatload of evidence that I cannot get one organization or person of authority to look at or have any interest in. It’s terrifying really. I just got dismissed without my knowledge and now that I’ve read this entire thread I’m thinking twice about filing for judicial review seems redundant
I’ve been deliberately legally misinformed twice and once by the Tribunal Adjudicator in hopes that I file my petition incorrectly. These institutions can just terrorized a disabled and critically sick individual while acting the most corrupt of ways with no fear of consequences. This is deeply disturbing and these people are a public danger as my life has been recklessly put at risk with no hesitation
Same in my case, misinformation, misrepresentation, and total disregard for my physical and mental health, pushed me to try to end my life multiple times. We the people trust the system, but it is rigged and plays against law-abiding citizens. The system takes advantage that we the people trust the system.
I’m in! These people are a public danger and as a critically sick person my life has been put at risk recklessly and deliberately with no hesitation or remorse…
I am convinced the changes needed cannot come by lobbying within Canada. Politicians refuse to recognize the Judicial System is dysfunctional in relation to Family and Civil Law. The NSRLP should encourage self-represented litigants to lobby abroad. A downgrade by Transparency International and Amnesty International is the only recourse. When citizens in other countries have their rights violated they look for help internationally. The Politicians and Courts will take notice when we are downgraded to Russia or Mexico status. Then and only them will the dictators within the Canadian Judicial System be held accountable.
This should end my replies to this site. When adjudication is done using intentionally uncontested, unfiled, and inadmissible evidence there is no sense filing Appeals. That is much the same as filing a Complaint with the bully beating you up in the school yard. What were you expecting, you just receive another beating. Take the time to query who the sitting members are on the Canadian Judicial Counsel. They are the same individuals allowing the beatings. As I stated, I will lobby abroad. Thus far Transparency International and Amnesty International are disinterested.
Well, it is possible in the Canadian judicial system to get spousal support even without the application for spousal support. My ex was making 50% more than I did, and no one could except expensive lawyers to help me!
The corruption in the Judicial system here in Canada is second to none.. Myself and a group of foreign trained physicians took Royal College to court for Breach of contract. Despite an overwhelmingly strong case on our side with strongest of facts and evidence presented before the court in Ontario. lol and behold we became a victim of a fantastically corrupt judge who decided the case by ignoring the evidence and did not do any factual analysis. This particular judge then boldly without fear of any repercussions took side with the other party who most likely had her in their pocket, and whatever they ask her to do or say, she just grant their request blindly. I reported her to the CJC which in itself to me a complete joke. They got back and said , sorry the Judge is now retired and we do not have Jurisdiction to do anything, so they said the complaints against her is now moot. About 2 months after the same judge that retired came out of retirement and awarded maximum cost against us. This is not only miscarriage of Justice but to us it is a criminal offence on her part. The institution, the press and this court or judge are all complicit in it. This can not happen in a third or 4th world country. The human rights court here in Canada is also a complete joke! The corruption here is incredible. We are fighting on and are going to appeal and we will see what happens.