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Feds appeal court decision in favour of islander

Islander Goetz Hanisch's legal ordeal is far from over, after the lawyer for Parks Canada and the RCMP filed an appeal of his successful civil suit.
Five years ago, in July 1998, Mr. Hanisch salvaged a Parks Canada Zodiac that broke away from a larger vessel during a storm. When he returned the boat, instead of a thank you for his trouble, he was slapped with mischief charges. Eventually those charges were dropped, but Mr. Hanisch believed he'd been treated unfairly, and brought a civil suit against Parks Canada and the RCMP. Last June, a BC Supreme Court judge agreed with him, and awarded him $77,000 in damages.
Now the lawyer representing Parks and the RCMP has filed an appeal contesting the punitive damages, says Mr. Hanisch, and claiming "absolute privilege" a little used legal loophole that prevents law enforcement officers from being charged with defamation for what they say during an investigation.
Mr. Hanisch says his lawyer has a month to respond, and then a court date will be set. Three judges and the lawyers will meet to decide the appeal. He hopes to attend, he says, unless the court date is during the summer when he is running his guesthouse in Rose Harbour.
The experience has, "destroyed my faith in the RCMP. The Supreme Court of BC has said it was a false arrest. The judge said it was a perversion of the rule of law, but the organization is choosing to support its member instead of taking some sort of disciplinary action against him," says Mr. Hanisch. However, he still has faith in the judicial system. "I was surprised at how right on the judges were," he says.
Despite the five year legal battle, and the approximately $8,000 he's had to pay out of pocket so far, Mr. Hanisch doesn't regret salvaging the boat.
"I help people in distress," he says. Ironically, at the same time Parks was charging Mr. Hanisch, they promptly paid his salvage bill for recovery of the zodiac. He has subsequently helped Parks Canada with another salvage operation. And his relationship with the Queen Charlotte branch of Gwaii Haanas has improved greatly since 1998. At that time, the park wouldn't even acknowledge that people lived in Rose Harbour, he says. Recently park personnel have begun telling travellers that a settlement exists there, and that visitors can hail residents for help during an emergency.
Mr. Hanisch is the only year-round resident of Rose. He's been there for more than 20 years, and operates a guesthouse for visitors.