By Peter Biggs

THE Supreme Court of Canada announced a decision May 25 to overturn a 2005 B.C. ruling  in favour of Dugald Christie.  

The Vancouver lawyer had argued that the province’s tax on legal fees discriminates against the poor by making it harder for them to hire legal counsel.

The federal government and all provinces except for Ontario and Alberta appealed the 2005 decision, arguing that almost all jurisdictions in Canada tax legal services.

Christie, a tireless advocate on behalf of Canadians who could not afford legal representation, endeavoured to draw attention to the issue by attempting to bicycle across Canada. During the journey, he was killed in a road traffic accident last July.

Christie’s friend Darrell Roberts, also a lawyer, had taken up the crusader’s battle against the tax.

“It’s the end of the line,” he told CBC News Online  following the court’s decision.

“Obviously, I’m very disappointed. This case was part of his overall goal to make justice more affordable and practically available to all Canadians.”

He added that Christie was “a unique individual” who “liked to enter the fray” and would have been happy if he had lived to see the case come before the court.

In a 1999 interview with BC Christian News, Christie said, “I’ve always been concerned about the way we treat our poor, but that increased after I became a Christian about 12 years ago. It made a big difference – to me, it was quite a revolution, and I’ve had an exciting time of it since then.

“Very often when I go through trying times, I ask myself: ‘Who am I, trying to reform the law?’ But then I’m reminded that it’s not me, it is the Lord.”

June 2007