Regina lawyer Tony Merchant was known as Canada’s ‘king of class action’

Many words have been used to describe Tony Merchant. He’s been called “the king of class action” (Regina Leader-Post), “living proof of the maxim that there is no such thing as bad publicity” (Maclean’s magazine), “The Merchant of Menace,” (Globe and Mail), “quite possibly the last guy you want to see across from you in a court of law” (Canadian Lawyer Magazine), “a god in my eyes” (former client Flora Northwest), a man of “sleazy standards” (former PC MP Jim Balfour) and “candid, intelligent, loyal, organized, goal-organized and productive, made for television” (Tony Merchant).

One of Canada’s best known and arguably most controversial lawyers, Mr. Merchant was a politician, radio host, and pugnacious litigator who filed reams of class-action lawsuits on everything from asbestos to breast implants, repeatedly battled allegations of unethical behaviour and financial impropriety, and ultimately became the single biggest advocate for – and beneficiary of – the federal government’s settlement payout to survivors of Indigenous residential schools.