It is not an exaggeration to state that Bernie Simpson is a successful professional lawyer, social worker, politician, well known for his charitable activities, an amiable person, a noble father, and husband.
By: Sucha Singh Claire
(English Translation by: Dr Jagtar Singh Dhiman)
Continued from LAST WEEK!
Bernie was one of the founding members of the Trial Lawyers’ Association of British Columbia whose major objective was to help the victims of car accidents and to fight for their right to have access to the Courts and to have an impartial judge determine what settlement the injured party was entitled to.
Since the mid 1980’s several BC governments including the Social Credit government, Liberal, and NDP tried to introduce “no-fault insurance” which would deprive the public of seeking justice and damages in the Courts. These bills never became law as a result of the various groups such as the Coalition of the Disabled and the Trial Lawyers fighting this unjust legislation. In recognition of his contribution in fighting “no-fault insurance” and his services to the public and legal community, he was honored by the Trial Lawyers’ Association of British Columbia.
As a result of his successful efforts in enacting a law making the wearing of bike helmets compulsory for cyclists, Bernie was honored by the Brain Injury Association of America at a dinner in Washington, DC.
Bernie was a strong advocate as a Member of the Legislature to expand trade with India in keeping with his philosophy of the necessity of the creation of wealth to eliminate poverty.
As a representative of the Ross Street Gurdwara, at the time the second biggest Gurdwara outside of India, he successfully encouraged Premier Harcourt to lead a delegation to India, particularly to the Punjab. The delegation included Bernie as the MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview and Cabinet Members Ujjal Dosanjh and Moe Sihota. At the time they met with Dr. Manmohan Singh who was India’s Finance Minister.
Bernie described his visit to the Golden Temple as being comparable to his visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem which is the holiest site for members of the Jewish religion. Since that initial visit, Bernie has visited India ten times and has been a strong proponent of trade between British Columbia and the Punjab which he felt would be in the best interest of the Indo-Canadian community, particularly of the Punjabi speaking youth who would be in a best position to encourage trade between our Province and the Punjab.
He served as Member of the Legislative Assembly for only one term; he left active politics as he wanted to devote more time to his young family and to the law profession.
In recognition of his services to Canadian society, Bernie was honored by the Governor General of Canada and approved by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with Canada’s highest possible award for a civilian, the Order of Canada. This prestigious award was given to him as a result of his efforts for the poor in Africa and for his activity with the multicultural community of British Columbia. At that time Bernie was among the youngest of all recipients of the prestigious “Order of Canada award”.
He has also been recognized by several organizations including the International Red Cross and is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden and Diamond medals.
Talking about his legal practice, Bernie shared that he launched his firm, Simpson & Company, with a mission to provide legal help to obtain the best possible medical treatment and compensation for those who were seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents.
He is credited as one of the first lawyers in British Columbia who pioneered Structured Settlements which resulted in a tax-free monthly payment for those seriously injured for the lifetime of victims of car accidents.
In 2001 he joined in partnership with another highly distinguished lawyer in the area of personal injury, Mr. Anthony Thomas and now has offices in Vancouver and Surrey/Delta. The firm Simpson Thomas has 12 lawyers and over 40 support staff. The firm deals only with cases involving victims of car accidents. The firm Simpson Thomas has settled close to 8,000 cases during the period of 2001 to 2013 and obtained compensation close to 350 million dollars.
He noted that his firm was the pioneering firm in British Columbia dealing only with cases involving motor vehicle accidents.
Recently the firm launched a new website which is one of the most comprehensive websites with regards to questions one may have regarding their rights when injured which is comprised of close to 150 pages, www.simpsonthomas.com.
Fighting for the rights of victims of car accidents is not the only passion that Bernie has. When he read that the City Council of Surrey was planning to open up a mega casino in South Surrey, he led the fight which caused its defeat as he felt that such a project would put further stress on those families, particularly in the Indo-Canadian community, that were struggling to survive in Canadian society.
He also noted that such a project was against the religious beliefs of members of the Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim communities. He mobilized leaders of the various Gurdwaras in Surrey as well as the leaders of the Hindu Temples and Muslim Mosques. Over 5,000 names were signed to a petition. Members of Surrey Municipal Council finally received the message that such a project was not wanted in Surrey and the motion was defeated with Mayor Watts casting the deciding vote.
During my interview with Bernie I asked him why he was so concerned about the welfare of Punjabi community. He explained that he was first introduced to the community by Mr. Malkit Parhar and took on a case which resulted in a member of the Indo-Canadian community being killed, his wife becoming a quadriplegic, and his young infant baby becoming a paraplegic. The family had gone to several lawyers who refused to take on the case as it was felt that the driver was at fault for the accident. Bernie successfully settled the case for the policy limits and soon developed a reputation within the community of taking on cases that other lawyers refused to take.
A more recent example is the famous Jaggo wedding case where his firm Simpson Thomas represented 27 out of 30 people who were seriously injured, 6 of whom were killed. The police put the entire blame of the accident on those who were participating in the Jaggo. As a result of the efforts of the legal team at Simpson Thomas and after the expenditure of close to ¾ of a million dollars the cases were successfully concluded by Mediation under the leadership of the former Chief Justice of British Columbia, the Late Mr. Justice Brenner. Today Bernie Simpson and his firm Simpson Thomas is a well-known name among the Punjabi community with more than 60% of the clients coming from the Indo-Canadian community. He is proud of the fact that the firm represents the second and third generations of Indo-Canadians in British Columbia and that many of the younger clients within the community had their parents and grandparents as former clients.
He believes that the Punjabi community is the most progressive and influential ethnic community in British Columbia and that the community’s influence is at every level of the economic spectrum.
He recalls among his first clients were immigrants from the Punjab who came primarily to give their children a better life. Most of his early clients worked in the saw mills, farms, or were taxi drivers. They made tremendous sacrifices all for the sake of a higher standard of living and for a brighter future for their children.
Through their determination and hard work, the community grew and has greatly influenced the political, economic, and educational levels of society. Just recently he noted that the new President of the University of British Columbia is from the Indo-Canadian community.
Bernie was pleased to share how in the mid-1990’s when he was appointed by Premier Harcourt to be a Senator at the University of British Columbia, that one of the roles that he had was to participate in the University graduations.
He derived great satisfaction to see Punjabi boys and girls receiving their degrees as a result of their diligence, determination, and sacrifices that their parents made. He believes that the Jews and members of the Sikh community have similar values and want to find their rightful place in society and not held down by any other community or what he refers to as the “Wasp” community – the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant community.
Both ethnic groups are determined to maintain their distinct identity, religion, and values and not to assimilate into the greater society. The struggles and hard work that the two communities go through is primarily for the better future of their children. He notes that many of the children of both communities forget their roots and not giving the respect to the parents and grandparents who made tremendous sacrifices for these children to be where they are today.
Bernie married a nurse, Lee and is blessed with two daughters and a son. He and his wife, like parents in the Sikh community, were determined to give their children the best of education. His son Jory became a surgeon in Toronto, his daughter Samantha is a lawyer in the area of Family Law, and his oldest daughter Annie has a doctorate degree in Child Psychology.
It is not an exaggeration to state that Bernie Simpson is a successful professional lawyer, social worker, politician, well known for his charitable activities, an amiable person, a noble father, and husband.
