Snowball V Ornge: Court Leaves The Door Open For Secondary Victim Claims

On May 31, 2013, Christopher Snowball was tragically killed while operating a helicopter for his employer, Ornge. As a result of the incident, his family commenced an action against Ornge for damages. In addition to claiming damages under s. 61 of the Family Law Act, members of the Snowball family also claimed damages in negligence arising out of the psychological injuries that they had suffered as a result of Christopher's death.

The defendant, Ornge, took the position that the claims in negligence for psychological distress were untenable in law. Ornge's position was that in order to claim psychological damages, an individual must either have been injured in the incident, witnessed the incident, or witnessed the aftermath of the incident. Ornge brought a motion under Rule 21 for a declaration that the plaintiffs could not succeed in their psychological damages claims, and that only...