Jan was an aspiring entrepreneur who had just graduated from MacEwan University with a diploma in Business. She wanted to start her own Business and spent many days and nights considering various ideas which, she hoped, would make him buckets of money. One day, she hit on what she thought was a brilliant scheme – services to seniors. The population was rapidly ageing, and she couldn’t see how she would fail to make money with such a business focus. She decided to start “Sunny Daze for Seniors Ltd.”, which takes seniors on various trips and adventures in and around Edmonton.
In her first summer of operation, she offered canoe and biking trips for more agile seniors. She wanted to start small since she didn’t want financial strain while building the Business. So, she didn’t order much equipment. She entered into a contract with Boat Stuff Inc. for canoes – 5 ultra-lite, fibreglass, tip-resistant beauties. She also entered into a contract with Wheels R Us, a well-known supplier of all things with wheels, for bicycles – 5 ultra-lite, super stable touring bikes. Delivery on both these items was to be May 1. She got her canoes. She anxiously anticipated taking a group of 10 seniors from a local activity centre on a trip down the Saskatchewan River, from Devon to Edmonton’s downtown. They had all registered and paid several weeks before the actual trip date, so Jan anticipated “smooth sailing” – both literally and figuratively. On the bright, sunny morning in question, Jan met with her customers onshore and went over the safety procedures. She also had them sign the following waiver:

“I understand that canoeing is a high-risk activity, that that in the event the canoe capsizes, there is potential for bodily harm and even death. I agree to hold harmless Sunny Daze for Seniors Ltd. for any injury or harm, resulting from the canoe trip occurring on (date).”

All the customers signed it, including Vern Hamm. Vern was a veteran canoeist who thought the waiver exercise was rather silly. He gave the form a cursory glance and signed it while joking with his fellow canoeists. They fitted all participants with helmets and personal flotation devices. Vern was significantly perturbed about the helmet requirement – what was he going to bang his head on in a canoe? It turns out Vern had a bit of a large head, so his helmet was perched on the top of his head at a somewhat goofy angle, even though it was the largest helmet that Maggie had. The canoes were launched, and the group started down the river.

Maggie was on to the boat to supervise. The water was somewhat rougher than Maggie had anticipated since early in the spring. But, since she had the foresight to order the tip-resistant boats, she wasn’t overly concerned. But tragedy struck soon after. The seniors had a difficult time handling the rough water and could not control the direction of their canoe. This was, in part, because the canoes were so light. There was much screaming in the resulting chaos, and many paddles were flailing about. One paddle clipped Vern in the head and caught his entire forehead (his helmet was not correctly covered). He is now in a coma due to the resulting head injury, as the paddle caught him precisely in the spot where he had previously sustained a shrapnel injury from his days serving with the armed forces.

Discuss the potential lawsuits.