More than a decade after a grown man orchestrated the savage beating of a 14-year-old boy as revenge for a “high-school spat” with his son, a B.C. judge has awarded the victim nearly $500,000.
The attack and the criminal case that followed — in which the man was convicted of assault and sentenced to six months in jail — have never been reported.
But the details are spelled out in a B.C. Supreme Court judgment last week that followed years of legal wrangling.
According to Justice Paul Walker’s decision, the then-45-year-old man — known by the initials MT — followed the victim, RS, off the grounds of his Delta high school one afternoon in April 2009.
MT was in a truck. One son was in the front seat and two adult males were in the back, holding metal batons.
In the days before, RS had punched MT’s younger son in the face after the other boy claimed he had kissed RS’s girlfriend and the two had traded insults.
Now, seeing the teen, MT brought his truck to a screeching halt.
“[MT] turned his head to the backseat and said something like ‘Go get ’em,’ ” the ruling says.
“The two males caught up to RS, who had tripped and fallen, and they began to strike RS with the baton and their fists.”
‘Are we all even now?’
The judgment says staff at the high school “freaked out” at the time.
MT was charged with assault causing bodily harm for directing the attack on RS and for head-butting a bystander who appeared ready to intervene.
A publication ban on the criminal case prevents the naming of any of the young people, although the Supreme Court ruling names both the victim and the attacker.
The attack followed a ‘high school spat’ between the victim and the son of the man who orchestrated the beating. The man followed the victim out of school and arranged to have him beaten. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
The most recent court ruling claims that as the beating began, MT told the two men wielding the batons to let his older son “get in there.”
“He uttered words of encouragement,” the judgment says. “And he also said, ‘This is what you get,’ obviously directed at RS.”
At the end of the attack, MT walked over to RS and put his arm around the Grade 9 student’s shoulder, asking, “Are we all even now?”
RS angrily said, “No,” the judgment says.
Courtroom confrontation
Those events would be replayed in a courtroom in recent months as MT — who represented himself — had a chance to cross-examine RS.
RS’s mother launched the suit seeking damages from MT on her son’s behalf while RS was still a youth. Now 26, RS claims that the psychological and physical scars from the attack continue to follow him.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has awarded the victim $479,000 for damages he sustained as a result of a severe beating when he was 14. (David Horemans/CBC)
He claims he is anxious and hyper-vigilant, and that he suffers from migraines. He has worked in construction but believes that had it not been for the attack, he could have pursued a career in carpentry, like his grandfather.
Walker noted that RS “was clearly distressed in having to face questions directly from” MT. The ruling recounts in detail the uncomfortable confrontation that followed.
MT tried to suggest that instead of asking whether he and RS were “even” following the attack, he had asked RS if he was “OK.”
“Is it possible?” MT asked.
“No,” RS responded.
RS continued: “And if you did — which — that was not what I recall, it was in an extremely belittling manner. You were trying to assert dominance is what I felt, over a 14-year-old boy.”
“Can you tell me exactly why you believe that?” MT asked.
“Yeah, your demeanour and the fact that you had [brought] you know, assailants to beat me with batons at my school, a place where I’m supposed to feel safe.”
‘Outrageous conduct’
MT didn’t deny that RS suffered a concussion, black eyes and a fractured nose.
But he argued that those injuries weren’t the cause of RS’s ongoing problems. At an earlier point, MT also attempted to argue that because he never touched RS himself, he couldn’t be held liable for battery.
But Walker said he accepted RS’s evidence that the attack was “etched in his memory.”
“His psychological symptoms are akin to PTSD,” the ruling says. “His physical and psychological injuries have affected all aspects of his life.”
The judge ordered MT to pay RS more than $479,000 for the injuries he suffered, including damages for loss of past earning capacity and future earning capacity, as well as general damages and the cost of future care.
The award also included $35,000 in aggravated damages “to reflect the natural indignation of right-thinking people for [MT’s] senseless and outrageous conduct.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
