APTN National News
WINNIPEG — A Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Master has ruled that the family of Brian Sinclair cannot pursue most of the elements of its wrongful death lawsuit against the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the province of Manitoba.
Sinclair, a homeless, disabled Aboriginal man, died in a Winnipeg hospital in 2008, after spending 34 hours in the waiting room without being attended to by a doctor or other medical staff.
Queen’s Bench Master Shayne Berthaudin’s ruling centers around the idea, originally put forward by the WRHA, that since Brian Sinclair is dead, he has no ‘right to life’ or ‘right to privacy’, and so court cases based on those rights should not be allowed to proceed, Vilko Zbogar, legal co-counsel for the family said.
“It is chilling to think that the law would allow a state institution to cause the death of a Canadian and then prevent anyone from holding that institution accountable under the Charter of Rights for doing so,” said Zbogar.
Berthaudin ruled that the family of Brian Sinclair cannot sue for the breach of Sinclair’s right to life and cannot sue for disclosing his personal health information to the public following his death. The court also ruled that there were insufficient facts alleged in the case to support the Sinclair family’s claim that the province allowed the hospital he died in to become a “public nuisance”.
As it stands, the Sinclair family is allowed to sue the WRHA only for the legal costs incurred in being part of the inquiry into Sinclair’s death.
Robert Sinclair, Brian’s cousin and spokesperson for the family, said that the decision “just lets the government and hospitals duck behind legal technicalities.”
“We are going to keep fighting for the answers and accountability that we think everyone is entitled to,” he added.
The Sinclair family issued a statement saying it intends to appeal the decision.
