{"id":358889,"date":"2026-07-30T19:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T19:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/can-the-government-be-negligent-for-not-shutting-down-a-smoker-bc-injury-law\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T19:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T19:27:23","slug":"can-the-government-be-negligent-for-not-shutting-down-a-smoker-bc-injury-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889","title":{"rendered":"Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? \u2013 BC INJURY LAW"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div property=\"text\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A smoker. In the combat sports world this is slang for an unsanctioned \/ unregulated fight. Cutting corners. Avoiding regulation. Exposing athletes to the dangers of a potentially neglectful environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week the BC Court of Appeal released reasons for judgement addressing whether the government could be liable for not shutting down such an alleged event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recent case (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bccourts.ca\/jdb-txt\/ca\/26\/01\/2026BCCA0189.htm\">British Columbia Athletic Commissioner v. Simon Fraser University<\/a><\/em>) involved a tragic outcome at an amateur level martial arts contest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By way of background the Plaintiff Zhenhuan Lei, who was a PhD student at the University of British Columbia at the time, entered into what was advertised as a light contact martial arts tournament. He was struck in the head multiple times at the tournament. He eventually lost consciousness and was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma (bleeding of the brain) and remains in a persistent vegetative state. The competition was not regulated by the BC Athletic Commission. In the lawsuit one issue was whether the contest needed to be regulated and if so was the government negligent in not intervening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lei sued various parties alleging they negligently contributed to his life altering injuries. Simon Fraser University (\u201cSFU\u201d) was one of the parties named. SFU hosted the event on their property. SFU countersued the provincial government arguing the Athletic Commission\u2019s office was aware that the promoter was hosting events that the Commission considered to be kickboxing without proper licensing. SFU argued the government should have shut the event down before it started and it was negligent in not doing so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government asked the court to dismiss the claims against them. A request that initially failed. Taking the matter to the BC Court of Appeal the court dismissed SFU\u2019s claim. In doing so the Court left the door open for such a claim to proceed but found SFU\u2019s allegations deficient. In short the Court said such a claim might be able to proceed but the pleadings must set out material facts setting out the government\u2019s knowledge of the event and failure to act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below are some of the court\u2019s key reasons:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[1]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On October 14, 2023, Zhenhuan Lei participated in a mixed martial arts tournament called the Western Canadian Martial Arts Championship (the \u201cTournament\u201d). The Tournament was held at Simon Fraser University (\u201cSFU\u201d). While participating in the Tournament, Mr.\u00a0Lei was catastrophically injured. As a result, his committee sued the Tournament organizers and SFU for damages for personal injury. SFU brought third party proceedings against the British Columbia Athletic Commissioner (the \u201cAthletic Commissioner\u201d) and the Province of British Columbia (the \u201cProvince\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[2]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Province applied to strike the third party notice on the basis that it was plain and obvious that the third party notice disclosed no cause of action. In a cross-application, SFU applied to amend its third party notice to, among other things, add Patrick Gilday, the Athletic Commissioner, personally. The applications were heard together in January and March 2025. The judge dismissed the Province\u2019s application to strike and dismissed SFU\u2019s application to add the Athletic Commissioner in his personal capacity. The Province and SFU have both appealed that decision.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[3]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This appeal raises questions about the extent to which a government regulator can be found liable in tort for injuries to individuals taking part in regulated activities. For the reasons that follow, I would allow the Province\u2019s appeal on the basis that the third party notice does not give rise to a cause of action against the Province and should have been struck. SFU\u2019s appeal of the judge\u2019s dismissal of its application to amend its pleadings to add Mr.\u00a0Gilday personally was withdrawn in the course of oral submissions so it need not be considered by this Court.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[46]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Unregulated combat events are generally prohibited under the\u00a0Code\u00a0because they involve activities that are broadly understood to be harmful to the public good, not just to the individuals participating in the events. The\u00a0Code\u00a0prohibition is indicative of a societal recognition that unregulated fighting as a spectator sport, even with the consent of the participants, violates community values and is contrary to the public interest.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[47]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Further, where there is to be an exemption from the\u00a0Code\u00a0prohibition, the statute and regulations advance the public good in another way, to ensure that event organizers need to have a licence and permit, which in turn impose some strict rules on the conduct of events. This benefits the members of the public who attend such events, by enabling them to discern between legal and licensed events and those that are neither.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[48]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thus the purpose of the\u00a0ACA\u00a0is to regulate the industry of combat sports for the benefit of participants, organizers, the general public and the communities in which these events take place. It is not a statute with a singular purpose, and one of its purposes is the advancement of the public interest.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[49]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Generally, a statutory scheme that exists to advance the public good will not provide a sufficient basis to create proximity for the purposes of establishing a private law duty of care. This is true even if a potential claimant is a person who benefits from the proper implementation of the scheme:\u00a0Frazier\u00a0at para.\u00a046;\u00a0Wu\u00a0at para.\u00a056. Part of the rationale for not recognizing a private law duty of care in these circumstances is that such a duty may interfere with the government actor acting in accordance with its duties to the public:\u00a0Wu\u00a0at para.\u00a056;\u00a0Imperial Tobacco\u00a0at para.\u00a047.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[50]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SFU relies on\u00a0Fullowka\u00a0as an example of a case where a private law duty of care was grounded in a regulatory statute. In\u00a0Fullowka,nine miners were killed when an explosive detonated at their workplace during a labour dispute. At issue was whether the regulator had a private law duty to keep the miners safe. The legislative scheme in question imposed upon the government regulator a positive duty to act. Specifically, the mining inspector was required to order the immediate cessation of work in a mine that the inspector considers unsafe. In this way, the legislative scheme in\u00a0Fullowka\u00a0is different than the\u00a0ACA. The\u00a0ACA\u00a0does not impose any positive duty to act on the Athletic Commissioner in any circumstance.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[51]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In this case, a relationship of proximity between the Athletic Commissioner and individual athletes cannot be grounded in the legislation\u2019s purpose, nor in any statutory duty to act. In my view, it is plain and obvious that the\u00a0ACA\u00a0and its regulations do not expressly or by implication create a private relationship of proximity between the Athletic Commissioner and individual athletes giving rise to a\u00a0prima facie\u00a0duty of care.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[52]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A combination of specific interactions between the parties and the government actor\u2019s statutory powers and duties can give rise to the necessary proximity to ground a private law duty of care. However, the established approach to proximity when considering an allegation that a duty of care is owed by a government regulator requires the court to \u201clook to the interaction between the regulator and the\u00a0plaintiff\u00a0to determine whether a sufficiently close and direct relationship exists to impose a\u00a0prima facie\u00a0duty of care\u201d:\u00a0Waterway Houseboats Ltd. v. British Columbia, 2020 BCCA 378 at para.\u00a0243 [emphasis added]. See also\u00a0Tekamar Mortgage Fund Ltd. v. British Columbia, 2023 BCCA 20 at para.\u00a067.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[53]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In this case, there is no allegation that there were any interactions whatsoever between the plaintiff and the Athletic Commissioner. SFU seeks to ground its theory of proximity on interactions between the Organizers and the Athletic Commissioner. A similar theory of liability was advanced in the companion cases of\u00a0Cooper\u00a0and\u00a0Edwards v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2001 SCC 80,where the plaintiffs allegedly suffered harm at the hands of a party involved in a regulated activity (in\u00a0Cooper,a mortgage broker; in\u00a0Edwards,a lawyer) and then alleged negligence on the part of the governmental authority in charge of regulating the activity that gave rise to the plaintiff\u2019s loss (in\u00a0Cooper, the Registrar of Mortgage Brokers; in\u00a0Edwards, the Law Society of Upper Canada). The plaintiffs in those cases were unsuccessful in establishing proximity in part because they had no direct relationship with the governmental authority.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[54]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, there is a body of jurisprudence in which proximity is grounded not in the direct interactions between the plaintiff and a government regulator but rather in the government\u2019s responsibility to prevent the actions of a third party from harming the plaintiff. In such cases, proximity is established by the fact that the government entity \u201cfailed to act to protect the life and safety of individuals when the regulator was fixed with knowledge of a clear, present and significant danger posed to a discrete and identifiable segment of the community\u201d:\u00a0Taylor v. Canada (Attorney General),2012 ONCA 479 at para.\u00a0114. See also,\u00a0Doe v. Metropolitan Toronto (Municipality) Commissioners of Police, 74 OR (2d) 225, 1990 CanLII 6611.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[55]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0Frazier, this Court considered a proximity argument where the alleged duty of care arose \u201cfrom a combination of the factual relationship between the parties and the regulator\u2019s powers and duties under the legislation\u201d: at para.\u00a053. The Court in\u00a0Frazier\u00a0did not rule out a duty of care being imposed on a regulator where the regulator has knowledge of a danger combined with foreseeable harm to a limited group of persons: at para.\u00a066.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wordads-ad-wrapper wordads-ad-wrapper--inline\">\n<div class=\"wordads-ad wordads-ad-responsive\">\n<div class=\"wordads-ad-title\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[56]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cases like\u00a0Taylor,\u00a0Doe, and\u00a0Frazier\u00a0support the proposition that proximity could arguably be established absent direct communication between a government entity and a plaintiff where the regulator knew of a danger to an identifiable population and took no steps to protect those individuals. However, claims that seek to ground proximity on this basis will not survive a strike application if the pleadings do not contain the material facts necessary to establish proximity:\u00a0Frazier\u00a0at para.\u00a079.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[63]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In this case, it is simply not clear on the record before this Court whether there are material facts available to SFU that would remedy the defects in the amended third party notice. If such facts exist, they have not been pleaded, nor has SFU suggested in argument that it presently knows of additional material facts that would support its claim against the Athletic Commissioner. As such, the appropriate remedy is to strike the third party notice.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>[64]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, unlike\u00a0Frazier\u00a0and\u00a0Imperial Tobacco, in this case there may be additional material facts that support proximity, known to the parties but not to the Court. As a result, while I would strike the third party claim, I would do so without prejudice to SFU\u2019s procedural rights under the\u00a0Supreme Court Civil Rules,B.C. Reg. 168\/2009 [Rules]. Like any defendant, SFU may apply in the Supreme Court of British Columbia for leave to file a new third party notice under R. 3-5(4) of the\u00a0Rules\u00a0if it is aware of additional material facts that would support proximity, or if material facts are later discovered. Nothing in this judgment is intended to bar SFU from making such an application.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over two years have passed since this event took place. Lei remains in a persistent vegetative state. Here is a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-needed-after-kickboxing-tragedy\">link to a fundraiser for anyone who wishes to assist his family to contribute to his ongoing caregiving needs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/combatsportslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image.png?w=437\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings above via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings below via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons above via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons below via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts below via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->                <\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A smoker. In the combat sports world this is slang for an unsanctioned \/ unregulated fight. Cutting corners. Avoiding regulation. Exposing athletes to the dangers of a potentially neglectful environment. Last week the BC Court of Appeal released reasons for judgement addressing whether the government could be liable for not shutting down such an alleged [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180396,180397,180398,180399],"tags":[4378,9579,12685,77823,26038,17509],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-358889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bc-athletic-commission","category-bc-negligence-law","category-combat-sports-law","category-duty-of-care","tag-government","tag-injury","tag-law","tag-negligent","tag-shutting","tag-smoker"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? \u2013 BC INJURY LAW - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? \u2013 BC INJURY LAW - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A smoker. In the combat sports world this is slang for an unsanctioned \/ unregulated fight. Cutting corners. Avoiding regulation. Exposing athletes to the dangers of a potentially neglectful environment. Last week the BC Court of Appeal released reasons for judgement addressing whether the government could be liable for not shutting down such an alleged [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T19:27:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785439646_image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"437\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"246\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? 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\u2013 BC INJURY LAW - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? \u2013 BC INJURY LAW - Som2ny Network","og_description":"A smoker. In the combat sports world this is slang for an unsanctioned \/ unregulated fight. Cutting corners. Avoiding regulation. Exposing athletes to the dangers of a potentially neglectful environment. Last week the BC Court of Appeal released reasons for judgement addressing whether the government could be liable for not shutting down such an alleged [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2026-07-30T19:27:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":437,"height":246,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785439646_image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? \u2013 BC INJURY LAW","datePublished":"2026-07-30T19:27:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889"},"wordCount":1875,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785439646_image.png","keywords":["Government","Injury","law","Negligent","Shutting","smoker"],"articleSection":["BC Athletic Commission","BC Negligence Law","Combat Sports Law","Duty of Care"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=358889","name":"Can the Government Be Negligent For Not Shutting Down A \u201cSmoker\u201d? 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