He was passionate about the need for strong regulations to protect people on the job and hold employers to account when workplace fatalities occurred
Lawyer Craig Paterson cut a swath through the heretofore quiet complacency of workers’ compensation adjudication in British Columbia. Over three decades, injured workers who felt they had been hard done by had no fiercer advocate than Mr. Paterson. He shattered precedents, took on cases that seemed unwinnable, and shook up the status quo with a pit bull demeanour in relentless pursuit of a fairer deal for his clients.
In another, more complex case, Mr. Paterson sought survivor benefits for the widow of Edward Schulmeister, who had been permanently disabled in a workplace accident but drowned in a subsequent boating accident. Her request was denied on the grounds that his disability was not the only or even a major factor in his death. Mr. Paterson appealed the decision to the B.C. Supreme Court, which ruled that his injuries had only to be “a significant factor” in Mr.
John Craig Paterson was born Aug. 30, 1946, in the canal city of Welland, Ont., the first of five children born to Doris and Jack Paterson. Doris was a registered nurse from Virginia. Jack was born in Scotland. The two met in Canada while Jack was in the Royal Canadian Air Force, training Second World War Mosquito bombing crews.
He graduated in law from the University of Western Ontario in 1970, and went on to obtain a master’s degree in law at Harvard University. By then he was married, with a young daughter. He taught law for a year at the University of Windsor, before heading west to Vancouver, after the breakup of his marriage.
Best-selling author Dr. Gabor Maté helped with some of Mr. Paterson’s early cases, and the two remained friends. “He was the nemesis of WCB officials who minimized people’s injuries and denigrated their claims,” Dr. Maté said. “It became his passion and his profession too that their rights be recognized and proper compensation awarded.”
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