Anthony (Tony) Merchant, a well-known lawyer and former Saskatchewan MLA, has died.
His son, Evatt Merchant, confirmed that the 81-year-old died at his home in Regina on Thanksgiving Monday, Oct. 13.
A funeral is scheduled to be held in Regina next week.
Merchant’s illustrious legal career began after he was admitted to the Saskatchewan bar in 1968.
He was later admitted to the Alberta bar in 1976 and the British Columbia bar the following year.
He eventually formed his own law firm, Merchant Law Group, which now has offices in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
He was elected as an MLA in the riding of Regina Wascana in 1975. He served in the role under the banner of the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan until 1978.
Gord Kurski was Merchant’s friend and lawyer. He said he believes Merchant had an entrepreneurial spirit that helped him launch his career in class-action lawsuits.
“He was first out of the gate and had an opportunity to have a whole bunch of interesting litigation — some of it which turned out to be very lucrative for him,” Kurski told host Peter Mills on CBC Radio’s The 306.
That specialty would help Merchant become known as Canada’s class-action king because of the large settlements he won for his clients.
Merchant is likely best known for his firm’s representation of former students of residential schools in a class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government.
The Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement was reached in 2006, with the Canadian government agreeing to pay nearly $2 billion, one the largest class-action settlements in Canadian history.
More recently, his firm represented plaintiffs who sued Ticketmaster and reached a $6-million settlement that was finalized earlier this year.
A controversial figure
Merchant was no stranger to controversy during his lengthy career in the courtroom.
He once represented fellow MLA Colin Thatcher in a protracted custody battle with ex-wife JoAnn Wilson over the pair’s daughter.
Merchant was convicted of criminal mischief for his role in attempting to have Thatcher’s daughter turned over to him after Wilson was killed. Thatcher was eventually convicted of murder in Wilson’s death.
While Merchant’s biggest success may have been with the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, it almost led to the suspension of the high-profile lawyer.
In October 2020, the Law Society of Saskatchewan gave Merchant an eight-month suspension after he sent a letter pressuring a residential school survivor to use her settlement money to pay unrelated legal bills.
The suspension was eventually stayed by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal after Merchant appealed the decision, successfully arguing the law society’s adjudicator misapprehended the law.
The Law Society of Saskatchewan has found Merchant guilty of conduct unbecoming a lawyer multiple times over the course of his career.
In more recent years, Merchant, whose spouse is former Liberal senator Pana Merchant, was identified in the Offshore Leaks published in 2013.
Records showed that Tony Merchant put $1.7 million in offshore tax havens while he was battling with the Canada Revenue Agency over his taxes.
Kuski said Merchant dealt with controversy like “water off a duck’s back,” noting the lawyer was undaunted by authority.
Kuski said Merchant was likely the most well-known lawyer in the province — everyone had a story about him — and that means his death will change the legal landscape in Saskatchewan.
“He was front and centre in our profession for many, many years and it’s going to be far less interesting without him,” said Kuski.
Merchant is survived by his wife Pana and his three sons, all of whom followed their father’s path into law.
