"Inferior, inadequate and discriminatory?" - Balls, that's all you're worth!

www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca

The Public Eye

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11/18/11786591-sun.html

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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Sinclair kin await ruling on lawyer
By DEAN PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 18th November 2009 4:27 a.m.

Brian Sinclair's family members will have to wait awhile longer to learn whether a judge supports their efforts to secure more funding to hire a lawyer to represent them at an upcoming inquest into Sinclair's death.

Judge Ray Wyant adjourned the matter following a half-day hearing yesterday.

"It is unfortunate that we are here ... because I'm not sure I'm comfortable it reflects well on the process or the system," Wyant said.

Sinclair died in September 2008 after waiting 34 hours for care in the emergency room at Health Sciences Centre.

A 53-day inquest into Sinclair's death is set to begin in January. The province has offered to fund the Sinclair family $43,000 for legal fees at the Legal Aid rate of $80 per hour.

The funding proposal is "inferior, inadequate and discriminatory," Sinclair family lawyer Murray Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) told Wyant.

Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) said the Sinclair family should receive funding equivalent to what the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority pays its lawyers -- $210 per hour.

Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) said the NDP government has rebuffed any effort on the part of the Sinclair family to negotiate a new agreement.

"They are frustrated by the 'take it or leave it' attitude that the government has exhibited," he said. "The government is unwilling to provide the funding necessary to participate in any meaningful way."

Trachtenberg (emphasis ours) and co-counsel Vilko Zbogar said the government funding proposal is based on an eight-hour work day and caps pre-inquest preparation funding at $10,000. Factor in overtime, they said, and lawyers who take the case will be working for $20 an hour, not even enough to cover their costs.

Lawyer Glenn McFetridge, representing the government, said the province recognizes the Sinclair family's right to be represented at the inquest but is under no obligation to pay all their legal fees.

"This funding is meant to assist the family, not to provide full compensation," McFetridge said. "The government has made what it feels is a fair and reasonable offer based on appropriate rates."

Wyant has no authority to order the government to beef up its funding offer. Instead, Zbogar called on Wyant to tell the government its offer "is not fair or reasonable."

Outside court, Sinclair's brother Robert accused the province of "stonewalling" his family's wish to fully participate in the inquest.

"It seems to us that the government does not want us ... asking tough questions about why Brian Sinclair died so terribly," he said.

dean.pritchard@sunmedia.ca
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Truth To Power (www.accesstoinfo.blogspot.com; vicpopuli1@gmail.com)

Dear Mr. Populi:

Thank you very much for the link. Wonder how many of our readers make $80/hour and would be exceedingly thankful to receive it? Never mind eighty try twenty!

Sure a far cry from the minimum $250/hour Counselor Trachtenberg was billing the taxpayer financed Manitoba Metis Federation a few years ago to litigate frivolous, vexatious, scandalous and malicious lawsuits against private citizens. It's likely even more today.

We've always admired Mr. Trachtenberg's dedication to the principle of law, justice and fair play regardless of how much he is paid.

Seasons Greeting!

Clare L. Pieuk