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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 43 but what not every parent does in the night is get up to make sure their child isn't asphyxiating as a result of lack of suction- ing because they can't monitor their own airway. We've been attacking that from the perspective that this is not what the family unit is meant for," she says. While the Supreme Court put the cap on damages for pain and suffering, it did allow full compensation for economic losses such as income losses and losses for care. The basis has to be reasonable and justified and fair, but it is not dependent on the ability of the defendant to pay. Nij- jar says it has to be a measure of what's fair to both parties. In Canada, in cases of catastrophic injury and medical malpractice, the care models that courts have used in provinces outside of Ontario have been models that have attempted to lower the losses — for example, in-home immigrant care work- ers as opposed to hiring those services outside the home through agencies where the expense is far greater. "I think there is a compelling case for courts to award agency rates and not these in-home providers," Halpern says. "I think the attention has been on the medical side and liability and people not paying enough attention to the care model they put for- ward at trial or judges being very reluctant in cases outside Ontario to award multi- million-dollar awards," he says. The other notion occurring in these cases is do parents have to look after dis- abled adult children? Are they entitled to compensation for the value of care they provide? The law says that, yes, they are entitled, but cases that have considered it have been all over the map and, outside of Ontario, there are cases where judges have not awarded compensation to the par- ents providing extraordinary care to their children. Halpern says that is a wrong assumption. "Maybe it's time we brought the mat- ter back before the Supreme Court of Canada because of this discrepancy we see in the value of cases across the country. Having said that, I'm not say- ing Ontario is right — maybe it's too high," he says. L E G A L R E P O RT \ P E R S O N A L I N J U RY MAYBE IT'S TIME WE BROUGHT THE MATTER BACK BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA BECAUSE OF THIS DISCREPANCY WE SEE IN THE VALUE OF CASES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. HAVING SAID THAT, I'M NOT SAYING ONTARIO IS RIGHT — MAYBE IT'S TOO HIGH. RICHARD HALPERN, Thomson Rogers MONEY IS ONLY PART OF THE SOLUTION. Practice Funding and Advisory Services 1 888 800 4966 inquiries@bpfin.com bridgepoint.ca BridgePoint Financial is Canada's only full-service litigation fi nance fi rm. Our team of legal and fi nance experts have assisted hundreds of law fi rms manage the current challenges and opportunities within the personal injury litigation market. OUR SERVICES INCLUDE: DISBURSEMENT AND WIP FINANCING BANK CREDIT RENEGOTIATIONS PRACTICE TRANSITION ADVISORY SERVICES NEW PRACTICE AND FILE ACQUISITION FINANCING EXPERT ACCESS TM PROGRAM CLASS ACTION, COMMERCIAL AND OTHER LITIGATION CLAIMS CONSIDERED CALL US TODAY. Untitled-2 1 2018-01-25 7:43 AM

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