The appellant's husband, a police officer, was struck and killed by a vehicle while investigating an accident on a well-lit highway.
The trial judge found the driver solely responsible and awarded $195,000 in damages under the Fatal Accidents Act.
The Court of Appeal found the officer 25% contributorily negligent and reduced the damages by applying a fixed 7% discount rate based on recent Supreme Court jurisprudence.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, restoring the trial judge's findings on liability and damages.
The Court clarified that the discount rate is a factual issue to be determined on the evidence in each case, not a fixed rule of law, and found no palpable and overriding error in the trial judge's assessment.
