This action was brought against the Village of Kaslo (B.C.) by a plaintiff who sustained damages after falling down an embankment off Water Street (an unpaved alleyway). The Village had erected concrete barriers at the mouth of the street/alley in order to bar vehicles from entry and to demarcate the embankment. However, there were gaps between the barriers. Although the plaintiff was familiar with the area, she had her back to the barriers while helping her husband park their motor home. As a result, she stepped between one of the gaps before falling down and injuring herself.
In determining liability, the Court relied on the Supreme Court’s decision of Ryan v. Victoria (City), 1999 CanLII 706 (SCC) in which conduct was defined as negligent where it created “an objectively unreasonable risk of harm”. In this case, the Court noted the following factors: the embankment was patently obvious, the area was rarely used, the plaintiff knew of the embankment and there had been no other incidents of falls down the embankment.
Court dismissed the action and found that the infrastructure placed in the area of the fall by the Village was adequate. It was not necessary to put up fencing or fall protection as it was obvious that the area was hazardous. The Court also found that the plaintiff would not have fallen if she watched where she was stepping. Namely the “proximate cause” of her fall was determined to be her inattention in walking backwards toward the embankment despite being aware of the hazard.
While this decision is not binding on an Ontario Court, the duty of care owed by an occupier is defined almost identically in the Occupiers Liability Act of B.C. and Ontario. As such, the decision would likely be persuasive in Ontario in suggesting that common sense and the principles of reasonableness should prevail in disputes over whether an occupier has discharged its duty of care to ensure that people (and/or their property) will be reasonably safe while on their premises.
See Herrington v. Kaslo (Village of)), 2018 BCSC 1077
