“To assist a class of persons...of little, if any, means.”

When the dependents of deceased coal miner Giacome DiMarco applied for arbitration under Alberta’s Workmen’s Compensation Act, Judge E.P. McNeill ruled that they would have to prove they could pay the costs of litigation if they lost. Stating that the purpose of the Act was to help “poor people of little, if any, means,” Judge Nicholas Beck ruled that such proof was unnecessary, setting a precedent that confirmed workers’ rights to seek their day in court.