Our History
Equitas Society was formed in 2011 to support a class-action lawsuit against the Government of Canada for the reinstatement of the Pension Act Pension for injured soldiers. Equitas Society fought its way through the courts of BC, initially winning the case with the Supreme Court of British Columbia, where it was stated that the Government of Canada had a special duty to injured soldiers. The Government of Canada appealed this decision in October of 2013 to the Appellant Court of British Columbia. The Government of Canada under then Minister of Veterans Affairs Erin O’Toole attempted to have the appeal removed and the lower courts’ decision respected. This was denied by the court and as it wished to render a judgment in such an important case. Then in May of 2015, an abeyance agreement was signed between the Government of Canada and Equitas Society to temporarily stop the court case while the parties attempted to come to a resolution outside of court. The abeyance agreement was in place throughout the 2015 Federal Election, where Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Justin Trudeau promised to reinstate the lifelong pensions for injured soldiers. After the 2015 election and the election of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada to power, Equitas Society was told that the court case would resume. Court filing to resume the court case were made in June of 2016, and on the 4th of December 2017, the Appellant Court of British Columbia decided in favour of the Government of Canada that no special duty of care was due to those injured while in the Canadian Armed Forces. This decision was appealed by Equitas Society to the Supreme Court of Canada on 31 January 2018. Then on August 30th, 2018 the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the case ending the court battle. Though the court case was ultimately loss Equitas Society has not wavered in its resolve to achieve the restoration of veterans’ benefits. Since August 2018 when the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear our case we have been tirelessly advocating for veterans’ rights and will continue to do so.
Information on the legal case.