Moose-vehicle crash victims sue government

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Two men who were seriously injured in collisions with moose in Newfoundland have launched a class-action lawsuit against the province, arguing in a statement of claim that the government hasn’t properly managed the animal population.

Ben Bellows and Hugh George filed the suit against the government in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday.

Both suffered paralyzing injuries when they struck moose while driving in the province, and contend in their suit that the government has failed to adequately protect motorists against collisions with the 450-kilogram creatures.

"The plaintiffs say that moose-vehicle collisions on the highways of the island of Newfoundland are not acts of God, but acts of government," the 10-page statement reads.

"And the defendant is legally responsible for the damage caused."

Ches Crosbie, the St. John’s lawyer handling the case, said the suit is intended to press the province to enact measures that would help reduce the number of accidents by 50 per cent or more within five years.

"There are things the government should be doing that are of proven effectiveness," he said Tuesday in an interview from St. John’s.

"This suit is about safety on the highways for Newfoundlanders."

The claim alleges that the government is at fault because it introduced the moose to the province in the early 1900s, knowing that there were few natural predators.

It states that the province has failed to introduce preventative tools, such as fencing, safe passageways for the animals across roads and systems that could warn of a moose presence near a highway.

It also alleges that the province has allowed the moose population to "exceed environmental limits and materially increase the risk to users of the highway." It says a spring cull might help control the population.

Last year, Parks Canada said it was planning a cull of moose inside the province’s two national parks of Gros Morne and Terra Nova because the animals were eating too many young trees.

Bellows, a 54-year-old former maintenance worker, was returning to his home near Corner Brook, N.L., in 2003 when he hit a large moose at 92 km/h on the Trans-Canada Highway.

According to the statement, Bellows suffered a spinal injury that left him a quadriplegic confined to his bed and wheelchair. He says he can’t work, is cared for by his wife and receives meagre benefits from the government.

"I’m hoping that government will realize that those injured people do have a voice and we do mean something," he said from his home in Mount Moriah, N.L.

"After seven years of fighting, trying to get the government to even pick a bit of fencing up … they’ve just turned a blind eye."

Justice Minister Felix Collins said in a statement that he is reviewing the claim and is working with various departments to prepare a defence.

Collins said he was limited in what he could say since the matter is before the courts, but added that the province is "confident in its moose management strategies and highway maintenance programs."

There are roughly 120,000 moose in the province and there were about 700 crashes involving the mammals in 2009, according to provincial estimates. Occasionally, those collisions are deadly.

Crosbie said it was too early to determine what damages would be sought in the case.