Professor (emeritus) Lewis Klar and Mr. Paul Vickery, Senior General Counsel for the Federal Department of Justice (Canada), and lead counsel in a number of class action suits brought against the Federal Crown, delivered this year's Hugh Ketcheson Memorial Lecture for the Crown's Counsel Association, Saskatchewan. The lecture took place on Thursday, March 13 in Regina. This is the second time Professor Klar was invited to deliver at this lecture series, which was named in honour of the late judge, the Hon. Hugh Ketcheson.
Professor Klar addressed the issue of the tort liability of negligent government regulators, focusing on developments in this area since he last delivered the Ketcheson lecture in 2007. The theme of Professor Klar's lecture was the main obstacles which plaintiffs face in their efforts to successfully sue the government. Paul Vickery addressed the complexities which the Federal Crown faces in defending class action suits brought against it, particularly due to the multi-jurisdictional nature of these claims.