Province’s arguments to get out of Broncos bus crash lawsuit delayed

On Wednesday morning, lawyers for the Government of Saskatchewan were supposed to start arguments to strike them from a list of defendants in a lawsuit over the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018.

But another suit on the same issue is pushing things back.

Before things could get underway Wednesday, lawyers from an as-yet-uncertified class action petitioned Justice Donald Layh to adjourn the proceedings.

The class-action lawyers claimed the result of the hearing, over the inclusion of the provincial government as a defendant, could have an effect on their case. So the lawyers argued to be heard in the strike application so that it’s only heard once.

Both the lawyers for the province and the lawyers for the five victims’ families who brought the suit were against that.

The province’s lawyers argued the lawyers for the class action have no authority to be jumping into this, and that if the court keeps pausing things in the interest of other cases, then this case could just keep going on and on.

The lawyer for the families, Kevin Mellor, argued his clients want to proceed with the case. He said they’ve been waiting a long time and don’t want to be a part of the proposed class action anyway.

Justice Layh took a half-hour to mull it over but eventually came back and decided to grant the adjournment. Layh said he has grave concerns when he knows there are parties affected that might not be able to say their piece.

There are a number of other actions before the courts surrounding the crash — 11, according to the province’s lawyers — and Layh said he’d like to know whether those other actions have been informed the government is trying to argue that it can’t be named as a defendant.

Speaking outside court after the hearing was adjourned, Mellor said the families have been waiting two years to have things dealt with.

“Justice delayed is justice denied and that’s the position of our clients,” said Mellor.

He explained the families want to get this part of their lives behind them.

“They want to make sure that the people responsible are held accountable, and they do think that the Government of Saskatchewan is responsible for the sightlines not being proper and that’s the reason why the bus actually hit the semi,” said Mellor.

Mellor believes the problem is that not all the claims over the crash have the same plaintiffs; he said his clients’ claim has nothing to do with first responders like the class action does.

In court, Layh said he didn’t intend to allow the action to go on forever. He set a time in December for a conference call to make sure things are moving along and then the next hearing will happen in January.