On October 24, 2018, the N.S. Supreme Court issued Supplemental
Reasons explaining why it decided that future income loss under
section 113BA(1) of the N.S. Insurance Act, RSNS 1989, c.
231 must be calculated on a gross, and not a net, basis.
The decision in MacDonald v. MacVicar
highlights, and perhaps heightens, the confusion that has
surrounded the Act's separate treatment of past and future
financial losses, and of loss of income and diminished earning
capacity, for people injured in motor vehicle accidents. Until now,
insurance defence counsel has relied in part on the reference in
section 2(1) the Insurance Tort Recovery Limitation
Regulations, NS Reg. 182/2003 to future income loss as support
for the position these awards must be calculated on a net basis.
And the court supported this interpretation of the Regulations in
its 2009 decision in McKeough v. Miller. The
interpretation in MacDonald v. MacVicar is at
odds with McKeough v. Miller. It is, however,
