Dugald Christie (1941 – July 31, 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer and political activist. He was based in the city of

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He was the grandson of Dr Dugald Christie (Christie of Mukden), a Scottish Presbyterian missionary doctor who founded the

Mukden Medical College Mukden Medical College (also spelt Moukden Medical College) was a medical school in Mukden (now Shenyang), China, founded in 1892 as the Sheng Jing Medical School (this was primarily an 'apprentice' school teaching medical assistants). The Mukden ...

in Shenyang, China.

Life

Dugald Christie finished a Bachelor of Science at McGill University in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

with the intentions of entering medical school following the footsteps of his father and grandfather, but after careful examination of his aptitudes instead enrolled as a law school student at The School of Law of

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Christie began his political activities in 1991 when he began to offer free legal service to low-income people in Vancouver. As the head of the Western Canada Society to Access Justice, he was instrumental in setting up numerous pro-bono clinics across western Canada. He charged extremely low fees, and his net income in the years 1991 to 1999 did not exceed $30,000 per year. Christie is most noteworthy for a 2005 court challenge of a

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

law that extended provincial sales tax to legal services. Christie argued that the law unjustly infringed on the constitutionally-protected rights of low income people to access the justice system. He met with partial success at the Court of Appeal, but a further appeal at the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

overturned the lower court's decision on May 25, 2007. In 2006 Christie began an effort to bicycle across Canada in order to raise awareness of the shortcomings of legal assistance programs in Canada. In his pocket resided a petition signed by lawyers outlining key failures of the legal aid system to adequately provide justice to citizens without means. He had hoped to deliver this to PM

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

at the Canadian Houses of Parliament if granted an audience. On July 31, 2006, in

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

, Christie was killed when he was struck from behind by a van during the last leg of his journey.

Legacy

Since 2009, students at the

McGill University Faculty of Law The Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the oldest law school in Canada, and continually ranks among the best law schools in the world. The faculty is known for it ...

have been holding an annual community bike ride to celebrate Dugald Christie's legacy and continue his work. Each fall, participants from the Law Faculty and the wider community collect donations and raise awareness about access to justice issues in Montreal.

References

Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian human rights activists 1941 births 2006 deaths Schulich School of Law alumni Cycling road incident deaths Road incident deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Ontario {{Canada-law-stub