DRAWING OUTSIDE THE LINES IS O.K. IF YOU WEREN'T ALLOWED TO HELP DRAW THOSE LINES IN THE FIRST PLACE

I heard and or saw an ad recently for a law firm advertising their services to appeal Workman's Compensation Board (WCB) decisions. I can not recall if the ad was on TV, on-line, newspaper or wherever. The point the ad raised was that appealing any such adverse decision using the process provided by either the Ministry of Labour or the WCB was a waste of time. The law firm made it clear that internal appeals to the same body who made the original decision and was totally in charge of the appeal process was simply window dressing. Therefore the law firm was advising legal action through the courts to redress the initial adverse decision. Now if only some of our courts themselves were less biased and less cognizant of the status, power and money before them. .............................................................................................................................. Undoubtedly our authorities who have tied up the entire investigation and remediation process at contaminated sites will howl like banshees in outrage if any stakeholders turned their back on them and their so called "public consulation" and so called "Qualified Persons" bullsh.t. They don't mind so much if stakeholders including local residents, either short term or long term involved, walk away in disgust. What would greatly offend them is any attempt to bring in a third party form of either mediation or even legal action. There is absolutely no way not to get your way when you and the other parties have all made your private deals. Then even if one guilty party is under pressure to do more you can remind them of all that they have to lose if they don't play ball and or forget who brought them to the dance in the first place. ..................................................................................................................................... Our legal system has long been grossly biased in favour of the very well off. Idiots like Trump for example have turned the courts into a playground for the rich to harass the less rich. Unless you can afford a full time lawyer to deal with unexpected (or expected) court dates, filing dates, etc. then you end up jumping through hoops and loops literally for years as the financially better off party introduce Motions for this and for that, at least partially designed to keep you busy and stressed. It is a contemptible process and is not remotely user friendly by design. It is however Judge and lawyer friendly and as a collegue of mine has stated it is the "Just Us" system not the justice system. ........................................................................................................................................... Is there a better way? Undoubtedly but any attempts at long overdue reform will be met with great opposition.