On Friday, July 29th, the Diocese of New Westminster received a cheque in the amount of $155,000.00 from the legal representatives of the 22 individuals, clergy and lay (Plaintiffs) who brought suit against the diocese and Bishop Michael Ingham over control of the assets of four parishes in 2009.

In total, the Plaintiffs brought three proceedings against the diocese, first in the BC Supreme Court, then in the BC Court of Appeal, and finally in the Supreme Court of Canada.

In the first decision, the diocese was considered by the court to be the party that was substantially successful and, at a subsequent hearing, the diocese was granted court costs.

The BC Court of Appeal upheld the original decision and also granted court costs to the diocese. And finally in June of 2011 the Supreme Court of Canada denied the Plaintiffs Leave to Appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeal and also awarded the costs of that process to the diocese.

In the Canadian court system, costs are generally awarded to the party that has been substantially successful, with those costs paid by the opposing litigants, but costs are awarded according to a variety of scales at each level and often the costs are a moderate percentage of the actual costs incurred.

The desire of the bishop and diocese is to put this era of legal wrangling behind us as much as possible and move forward with ministry. As a result, the costs were negotiated by counsel for both parties without going through the further potentially costly legal process of assessment in the fall of 2011.