B.C. man’s sasquatch-seeking expeditions used against him in spousal support case

A still from the film "Sasquatch Sunset" (2024), distributed by Bleecker Street.

A man’s ongoing efforts to track down the elusive sasquatch in remote areas of British Columbia suggest he’s capable of working, and therefore not entitled to spousal support, a judge has ruled.

The unusual circumstances were detailed in a recent divorce decision handed down in B.C. Supreme Court, which makes multiple references to the 57-year-old’s sasquatch-seeking expeditions.

It was one such venture that led to the couple’s separation in August 2020.

His wife told the court he went on a camping trip on Vancouver Island that month in search of the mythical ape-like creature – and brought along an ex-girlfriend without telling her.

“The respondent was extremely upset by this,” Justice Robin Baird wrote, in his Jan. 17 decision.

“Before the claimant returned home she fired off a text to him declaring that their marriage was over, and she never changed her mind.”

The husband’s claim for spousal support also hinged on him being unable to work due to a mishap that occurred during a previous sasquatch outing years earlier.

The court heard he was staying at a hotel in Sayward – a tiny village of around 300 people on northeast Vancouver Island – when he slipped on an icy staircase and fell in January 2016, suffering a range of injuries including fractures to an ankle and vertebrae.

That unfortunate incident led to chronic and sometimes severe pain that continues to this day, the court heard.

But Baird was ultimately not convinced the husband was left “totally disabled” by the accident, or that he “cannot earn income from employment of some kind or other” – partly because of his ongoing sasquatch-related endeavours.

“The claimant continues to enjoy camping, fishing, hunting, riding ‘quad’ motorcycles, and exploring remote areas of B.C. in search of sasquatch,” the judge wrote.

Baird also noted that the husband “testified with some pride” at being designated a “gifted” student in school, and had “made it clear that he rates his own intellectual abilities to be far above average” – something the judge found could help him find a job, if he sought one.

“I accept that he is no longer suited to work requiring a lot of physical strength or stamina,” he added. “But he told me himself that he has made no effort since 2016 to seek or secure employment in lighter or more sedentary occupations, or to retrain for better paying low-impact jobs in keeping with his superior intellect and aptitudes.”

The judge also found the husband’s evidence to support his medical condition “dated,” as it was the same he’d used while applying for a federal disability pension six years ago, in 2018.

The husband was approved for that pension, which is now supplemented by provincial assistance payments. He also received a $350,000 settlement for his injuries at the Sayward hotel, according to the decision.

Baird approved the couple’s divorce, effective 30 days after the judgment, without awarding spousal support or legal costs to either party.