• BC Christian News • SEPTEMBER ISSUE 1999 • VOL. 19 #8 • Formerly "Christian Info News" •

Dugald Christie: a modern-day Robin Hood?
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By Anne Eapen

Dugald Christie

HIS TRUSTY steed may not quite resemble a magnificent stallion, but Dugald Christie rides his 21-speed mountain bike with the same purpose and determination that propelled Sherwood Forest's most distinguished resident: a deep desire to help society's poor and disabled.

In his battle to develop a genuine access to justice for those marginalized by mainstream society, Christie found himself resigning from the Law Society of B.C. in November 1997 -- effectively ending a 30-year law career. His frustrations, which provoked that decision, stemmed back to a case he had been working on for nearly five years. It involved a disabled ex-dockworker, Buddy Lee, who had been fired and labelled a misfit by his employer.

Justice Frances Muldoon of the Federal Court of Canada ruled the word 'misfit' did not indicate prejudice against Lee on the part of the employer. Christie tried to appeal the decision, but the Supreme Court of Canada refused to grant him leave to do so, thereby upholding the lesser court's decision.

Christie felt let down by a system meant to be available to all -- and soon after, he sold his practice. For more than a dozen years before his resignation, he had spent a couple of hours every second Thursday providing free legal advice to the poor.

"I've always been concerned about the way we treat our poor," he told me wistfully, "but that increased after I became a Christian about 12 years ago." His eyes brightened as he recalled the change his faith caused. "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."

He noted wryly that it wasn't that difficult giving up a successful practice. "Well, I wasn't deliriously wealthy, but I was making a good income." He moved out of his West Vancouver home and went to live in Dunsmuir House, a Salvation Army facility, which has helped him to understand the justice system's problems.

On the day that we met, Christie had just returned from a five-day, 320 km bicycle ride from Campbell River down to the attorney general's office in Victoria. "I was cycling on the Island with members of the Coast Club, which is for mentally handicapped men and women, who had come to protest the way that the law treats the poor and the handicapped," he explained.

Christie noted with pride that Buddy Lee was one of the cyclists who had made the whole journey. "He suffered really bad brain damage because of a car accident when he was nine. He has adjusted very well, a bit slow of speech, and his coordination is not 100 percent; but to cycle that long, that distance, shows just how good he is."

They had hoped to meet with the attorney general, or one of his representatives, and "to politely give him hell!" It is precisely that type of irreverence and in-your-face attitude that has garnered the 58 year old nation-wide notoriety; last summer, he cycled from Vancouver to Ottawa to burn his legal robes on the steps of the nation's highest court.

He admitted to a prejudice: "I think the secret to eradicating poverty is justice -- there must be justice for the poor. They may not give up living on the street, but they aren't going to be spiritually poor, or professional victims. That is what needs to be done, and we lawyers could do it easily if we wanted."

Christie, who worships at the Salvation Army Citadel in the morning and attends St. John's Anglican Church in the evening, has a profound yet precise mission statement: By the end of the year 2000, British Columbia will be the only place in the world that promises access to common law justice within a year at reasonable cost. That means a litigant or accused would have a right to a trial in accordance with the glorious traditions of our heritage within one year of commencement of proceedings, and be afforded the same level of justice regardless of income.

To that end, he joined forces with the Salvation Army, which has been in the business of providing a link between the underprivileged and legal advisors for decades.

"That was part of the reason I hooked up with them," he clarified. "I wanted to be able to see clients in a more manageable environment. At my downtown office, I had boasted that I'd help anyone, but found that I couldn't live up to that boast when they came into the office. So I gave them the number for the Salvation Army at Kingsway and Fraser. They'd call and arrange the appointment with them, and then I'd go down there and see them."

After he resigned from the Bar, he worked for free at the Salvation Army for close to a year. He was then made administrator of the Pro Bono Lawyer Consultant Program. Christie worked hard at getting other lawyers involved in giving free legal assistance to those who couldn't afford it.

"In the process, we have set up 13 clinics throughout the province. I'm very sure 20 or 25 would be possible. It has meant a lot of travelling. I would travel to every corner of the province once a month for about five months. So now there are about 180 lawyers volunteering their time doing this. It has been very successful."

He has since moved on to work on setting up a similar, but non-religious, program. He acknowledged that the Salvation Army was a wonderful vehicle to work with, "but it is a religious institution and many people are put off by religion."

Christie would like pro bono clinics all over the province, especially where the Salvation Army does not have a presence. He feels that a city such as Vancouver should have more than the current four pro bono clinics.

"What we need here is 40 or 50 clinics. You have to have one in each neighborhood. If you take any honest person hanging around on the street and you really get at why they are there, it's probably because of a legal beef. Somebody has done them in. You address that, and even if they don't succeed, it helps them enormously."

But setting up efficient pro bono clinics is not Christie's only aim.

"Pro bono is only part of the answer. I've been at this quite a long time, and have been on committees of lawyers, working with judges. It seemed to me, to get effective reform is not a question of rocket science -- how to invent rules and techniques of getting things done.

"The key is not a mechanical problem, it's a human problem -- and that means getting lawyers in touch with the real problem, which means getting lawyers in touch with the poor. We need to get lawyers mixing and milling with the unwashed, with the mentally handicapped, with the so-called losers of life -- rubbing shoulders with them -- and working on solutions together. Then they will become more sensitive, understand the problem and get rid of their stupid prejudices about the poor."

He has issued a challenge to lawyers to be the 'good Samaritans' of the day. "It is not just money, it is individual effort. And the lawyers should lead the way. I am a dreamer, but I think if lawyers would lead the way by going in to a place like the East End -- which is where I live now -- and reach out in a massive way to the poor, then poverty can be brought under control."

To volunteer or offer practical help, call (604) 681-2322.