Canada

Tony Merchant, key figure in one of Canada’s largest class-action lawsuits, dies at 81

By
David Prisciak

Published: 

WATCH: Tony Merchant, a prominent Regina lawyer who was a key figure in one of Canada’s largest class action lawsuits, has passed away.

Tony Merchant, the prominent Regina lawyer who became a key figure in one of Canada’s largest class-action lawsuits, has died.

Merchant’s family confirmed the 81-year-old passed away at his home in Regina on Oct. 13.

Merchant’s funeral will be held next week in Regina, according to the family.

Merchant was born in 1944 and grew up in Yorkton, Sask. He would attend and complete degrees at both the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan.

Merchant was admitted to the Saskatchewan bar in 1968. He would go on to practice law in Alberta, B.C., and Arizona over the next two decades.

In 1986, he founded Merchant Law Group (MLG), going on to establish himself as one of Canada’s leading class-action lawyers.

Merchant would be involved in numerous high-profile cases over the years. However, he would make national headlines in the mid-2000s as his firm represented thousands of former residential school students.

The Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement of 2006 created a fund totalling $1.9 billion. MLG would reportedly receive $25 million for its work with the claimants.

Merchant also dabbled in politics, representing Regina Wascana in the provincial legislature from 1975 to 1978. He would go on to run for the leadership of the provincial Liberals in 1976 but would ultimately lose out.

His dual attempts at securing a federal seat in 1979 and 1980 would also be unsuccessful.

A controversial figure

However, Merchant was also no stranger to controversy.

In January 1983, he was charged with abduction after helping former MLA Colin Thatcher forcibly remove his nine-year-old daughter from the home of a family friend shortly after Thatcher’s ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson, was murdered. Merchant represented Thatcher during his divorce and custody battle with Wilson.

Thatcher would later be tried and convicted of Wilson’s murder. Merchant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of mischief and was granted an absolute discharge. The Law Society of Saskatchewan reprimanded him for “conduct unbecoming” and fined him $1,000 and $5,000 in costs.

Merchant’s name was included in the 2013 “Offshore Leaks,” which saw several thousand people have their detailed financial information leaked. It was reported at the time that the documents showed Merchant put $1.7 million into offshore tax havens.

Merchant would butt heads with Saskatchewan’s Law Society on more than one occasion. He received an eight-month suspension in 2020 following a complaint from a client — who alleged that, in 2014, MLG withheld $21,310.83 in settlement money from them in order to pay unrelated legal costs owed to the firm.

The proposed suspension would eventually be set aside by Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal in 2022 after Merchant successfully argued that the law society’s adjudicator “misapprehended the law.”

Merchant is survived by his wife Pana and their three sons, all of whom are lawyers themselves.

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Clarification

A previous version of this story stated that Merchant's eight-month suspension from the Law Society of Saskatchewan in 2020 was later stayed. Information has been added to reflect Merchant's successful appeal of the suspension in 2022.