20- North Shore News — Wednesday, December 1, 1999 Archives’ Web site wins award A gmail THE Bri itish Columbia Archives Amazing Time ... PMachine Web site has won a gold medai for innovative service deliv- ery, Andrew Petter, minister of advanced education, training and technology, announced recently, The Distinction 99 Awards were held in the Canadian— Muscum. of: Civilization | in Ortawa ‘on: Oct.” Amazing Time Machine won __ in the provinces category. “Pm proud that this imagi- ; * native: teaching: tool, which : ‘showcases the. rich history of British Columbians i in an inno-- 18. The vative way, has beer recognized for its excellence,” said Perter. This year’s distinction awards drew over 230 entries in all categories from al! chree lev- els of government across the country. The. time machine _ sitc has been vis- ited by almost three million students, teachers, researchers and ‘members of the public since it was launched one year Ago. The time machine ‘can be ‘used to. journey along with characters like Billy Barker and . other early prospectors s seeking their fortune in the Cariboo - Gold Rush. Visitors to the site can step into the past to sce B.C. communities —_fike” Victoria’s Chinatown, Doukhobour settlements or the town of Ocean Falls. They can also learn more about the lives and contributions of women to B.C.’s development, or look through the eyes of B.C. artists while touring the virtual galicrics. The purpose of the B.C. Archives, Amazing Time Machine is to provide Internet access to B.C. historical docu- ments, images and other multi- media information in a format designed for schocl children. This project was completed under contract, by. Industry Canada’s digital collections program. awarded . through a competitive process Janice Mucalov, LL.B. Contributing Columnist WHEN May Donoghue, a Scottish shop assistant, discovered a snail in her ginger beer bottle in 1932, she unwittingly unleashed major new principles of law used in Canada today to decide products liability and - other negligence cases. Mrs. Donoghue and her friend had stopped in a cafe for some reff ents. Her friend ordered 2 pear and ice for herself and a tumbler of ice-cream and ginger beer . in your soi ee fark "(cream soda) for Mrs... Donoghue. The ginger beer was in a dark opaque glass bottle sealéd with a metal cap. : Her friend poured half the soda over her ice cream, and when she'd finished that, she proceeded to pour the remain- © _ der. To Mrs. Donoghue’s hor: ror, out floated the remains of» a decomposed snail. As a resul of such a nauseating sight and: * ‘the contaminated bev erage _she’d consumed, Mrs. - : _ Donoghue alleged she suf- fered nerous ak and severe | ee : The case was appealed a all “the way up to the top court of. the land, the English House of | Lords. In the famous judg-: ment of Donoghue v..":: Stevenson, Lord Atkin decide: ‘ that.a, manufacturer of con susner products imust take, sonable care in preparing the Product to ensure that-it is reasonably safe for constimp: judgm “you | hit‘a tree, of you.slip on -an icy sidewalk, one basis fo your lawsuit would be negli ‘gence: To prove that someone has been negligent, you ne to éstablisli three things.’ Fi that the person had a duty _the | ginger b beer prod ito prevent snails from’g take care. Second, that the ‘person broke that duty. And third, that you suffered injury “or property damage as a result. - But to whom is that duty -. to take care owed? This ctitical * “question was answered by ° Lord Atkin in his celebrated statement: “The rule that you ' are'to love your neighbour ©” ‘becomes in law, you must not: injure your neighbour... You «: ~ must take reasonable care to |’ avoid acts or omissions which - you can reasonably foresee. would be likely to injure your neighbou Who: ‘then, in law :. my neighbour? The answer: seems to be: persons who so closely : by my act that Tou y to have them in c ‘plation as being so “when Tam directin to dhe acts or om «In Mrs. Donoghue’s case had duty in operating business into the bottles or : ig and shipping them off for ce: