A champion for the poor dies on the road

By Peter Biggs

VANCOUVER lawyer Dugald Christie, a tireless advocate on behalf of Canadians who could not afford legal representation, was killed in a road traffic accident July 31 while cycling across Canada to raise awareness of access to legal assistance.

Christie, 65, was struck by a van on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Sault Ste. Marie around 6 pm.

Marina Pratchett, who chairs Pro Bono Law of British Columbia, knew him well. "Dugald's death is an enormous loss -- for Vancouver, for British Columbia and for Canada," she said. "He was a champion for those living in poverty and an example for those who do not."

Christie leaves a legacy that began some 20 years ago with the Salvation Army. He was a member with full uniform, and he also attended St. John's Shaughnessy Anglican Church in Vancouver.

In 1985, he organized a number of lawyers in support of Salvation Army clients who needed legal representation. Seven years later, he challenged then finance minister Glen Clark's decision to extend B.C.'s sales tax to include legal services, a challenge that has been fought thus far up to the B.C. Court of Appeal.

In 1998, he brought forward the idea of creating a formalized program that could be reproduced across British Columbia. Pro Bono manager John Pavey remembers working with him at that time: "He was very intense, I think of him as three or four steps ahead of everyone else. He gave 200 percent and was passionate. Every time we met we would pray together, he was very sincere about his faith."

A successful lawyer, Christie lived comfortably in West Vancouver. He became disillusioned in 1997 by the loss of a case that involved a brain damaged dock worker. He resigned from the Law Society of B.C. and later moved out of his West Vancouver home to live in the Salvation Army's Dunsmuir House.

"I remember visiting him around some years back at Dunsmuir House," said Pavey. "He had a small room and lived very simply with few possessions."

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."

After resigning from the bar, Christie volunteered at the Salvation Army for a year, becoming the administrator for a pro bono lawyer consultant program. He encouraged other lawyers to give free legal assistance to those who couldn't afford it. Back then he had drawn in some 180 lawyers who volunteered their time to put on clinics all over the province. Today about 460 lawyers are involved.

He moved on from working with the Salvation Army to leading the Western Canada Society to Access Justice.

Christie was a visionary leader, who challenged his peers. In the 1999 interview, he stated, "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."

He went on to say, "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 added, "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."

Pratchett said Christie was "an individual who had a vision of equal access to justice for all persons and who dedicated his life as a lawyer exclusively to the benefit of persons with limited financial resources. He was known to every lawyer in this province because he attempted to single-handedly call each one of us annually asking for either volunteer time or money or preferably both."

Pavey added, "The spirit of what he initiated for us at the Salvation Army lives on in our Pro Bono program. He practiced his words. Dugald was a person who walked his talk."

Related stories:

Dugald Christie, 65
A lawyer considered "the conscience of the legal profession" for his efforts to ensure equal access to legal help is being mourned by his peers.
Canadian Press, August 1

B.C. legal crusader killed in cycling accident
A Vancouver lawyer who was cycling across Canada to raise awareness of access to legal assistance has been killed in a road accident in northern Ontario.
CBC, August 1

B.C. lawyer for the poor killed on cycling mission
Lawyers, no matter how rich, were in mourning yesterday over the tragic death of Dugald Christie, a larger-than-life advocate of justice for the poor who might have stepped out of the pages of a Charles Dickens novel.
Globe and Mail, August 2

Dugald Christie died on a years-long mission of conscience drove him for years
Dugald Christie was a lawyer, but he was not like most lawyers. He was not like most people. A colleague called him "the Mother Teresa of the bar." When the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. honoured him for his life's work in March, he was introduced as being "every lawyer's conscience of their professional obligations" -- this high praise earned in a profession often accused of not having a conscience.
Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun, August 2

August 3/2006