SOHC just received the following from the BC Health Coalition:

Case update:

The clinics brought an application to postpone the trial for six months in order to negotiate a resolution to the litigation and it was granted in court today.

The defendant BC government agreed to the postponement for the purposes of negotiating a resolution. The Judge granted a postponement to March 2nd so the parties can seek a resolution.

One of the interveners raised concern about Day’s comments in a Vancouver Sun article over the weekend where he said that the postponement was for the purposes of ironing out a few issues in order to have the trial go forward more efficiently.

Day’s lawyer responded to say that Day ought not to have made those comments in the paper and that the plaintiffs will be undertaking the negotiations seriously to reach a resolution to part or all of the matters of the case, with the expectation that they won’t be back in court.

Patients interveners (who brought the original petition to force the BC gov’t to enforce BC medicare law) said that they were concerned about delay and worried about how it may affect their petition considering some of their members are seniors.

The Judge acknowledged this concern but said that he knows six months seems like a long time but these are complicated issues so he thinks the parties will need that time to reach a resolution.

This is very good news if it means that the case does not go to trial at all. Our remaining concern then is that the resolution is one that upholds public health care rules and protects patients.