The mediation session on March 28, 2017, turned out to be a non event. I brought Elaine, my wife, along for moral support, and across from us were two lawyers and a paralegal from BC Legal Services, plus Warren O'Briain, Executive Director of Public Health Services with responsibility for immunization policy, and of course Diane McLean, a Tribunal lawyer, as mediator. The principal message that the mediator opened with was that the proceedings are strictly confidential, so I can provide no detail except to state that I felt that nothing was accomplished beyond knowing what my adversaries looked like. We spent around two hours hashing over mostly what is detailed in documentation: the objective being an amicable resolution which would have mostly required me backing off my demands, which I outlined as:
1.
Immediate termination of the
discriminatory practice of making seniors pay for shingles
vaccination.
2.
Retroactive application of this measure to the first availability of
the refrigerated form of the vaccine, approximately three years ago.
3.
Refund of my $400 personal outlay for shingles vaccination for myself and my wife.
4.
For my time and trouble in bringing this blatant discriminatory
practice to light, I should be compensated the same amount
as the Ministry of Health has spent on their lawyer and her support
over the course of the past 18 months, including all Ministry personnel involved.
The next stage will apparently be a full Tribunal session, and that will hopefully be scheduled before people start taking off for summer holidays, but I'm not holding my breath. An email from the Tribunal on April 4, 2017, suggested a commitment to a conference call between April 18 and 25 to "hear the complaint's application for an expedited or alternate process". I indicated I am available on any of those dates, and today, April 6, I received an email from the Tribunal fixing the time for the call as 1500 on April 25, 2017.
On February 16, 2017, after several emails between myself and both the BCHRT and Ms. Pritchard, and phone calls from the tribunal, a date was set by Nikki Mann, Mediation Scheduling Coordinator for the Tribunal, for mediation at the Tribunal office on March 28, 2017, at 0930. This was followed up with hard copy in the mail, and a phone call on Friday, March 24, 2017 from Diane McLean, a lawyer with the Tribunal, who will be mediating the meeting. She simply wanted to talk to both parties to confirm the schedule and stressed that it will be very informal. I indicated I would probably bring my wife to witness the proceedings, and expected that the process would be quite simple.
On Friday, February 10, 2017, I received in the mail copies of letters to me and the Tribunal that the Ministry's counsel, Ms. Pritchard had emailed to the Tribunal, but neglected to email to me. The same afternoon Sandy Tse called to cancel the conference call set for February 24, 2017, and propose that she schedule a settlement conference at the earliest opportunity by simply calling me and the Ms. Pritchard separately. I indicated that I was available any time within the next three week preferably, or six weeks if necessary, and I sent out an email confirming this conversation to both Ms. Tse and Ms. Pritchard.
On Wednesday, February 8, 2017, I received a notice from the Tribunal to participate in a conference call to set a date for a hearing or a settlement meeting. The same afternoon I received a call from Sandy Tse, Case Manager for the Tribunal, inquiring if I had received an email from the Ministry counsel, and I indicated that I had not. The following day, I sent an email to the Tribunal proposing to invoke Rule 17 to expedite the process of Tribunal deliberations.
On Tuesday, January 24, 2017, The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal released a decision which runs to 20 pages, the full text of which is a touch tedious, but the conclusion, shown below, is interesting.
