2002 Annual Report

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General

9. The Joint Committee believes it is appropriate to report at this time to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario and the Superior Court of Quebec (collectively the "Courts") on the status of the Trust Fund and the administration of the Hemophilia HCV Plan and Transfused HCV Plan (collectively the "Plans").

10. The Joint Committee is comprised of Harvey Strosberg, J.J. Camp, Bonnie Tough and Michel Savonitto, who recently replaced Pierre Lavigne. Harvey Strosberg was appointed by Order of the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario. J.J. Camp was appointed by Order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and Pierre Lavigne and Michel Savonitto by Order of the Superior Court of Quebec. Bonnie Tough was appointed by Order of each of the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario, the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Superior Court of Quebec. This Report is prepared by and on behalf of all members of the Joint Committee.

11. In conjunction with the advice of Deloitte & Touche, the Joint Committee has, for audit and reporting purposes, established March 31 as the year end of the Trust Fund and the administration of the Plans. The Year 2 audit report, therefore, is based upon a 12-month cycle commencing April 1, 2001 and ending March 31, 2002.

12. In the period commencing April 1, 2001 and ending March 31, 2002, approximately $126 million was paid to claimants. Since March 31, 2002 an additional $88 million has been paid or declared payable to Class Members. Over Year 1 and Year 2, a total of $210 million was paid to claimants.

13. The operating expenses of the Trust Fund in Year 3 were approximately $16 million, inclusive of approximately $4.5 million in class counsel fees and other legal fees incurred prior to this 12- month period. The Joint Committee anticipates, as is set out in the budgets of the Service Providers which are attached hereto, that the ongoing expenses in Year 3 will be less than in Year 2. The administration expenses incurred by the Administrator will decrease as a result of declining claims, reduced claims processing personnel and increased experience with the process. Costs associated with traceback services provided by CBS and Héma-Quebec will most probably decrease over the next year with the diminishing backlog of traceback requests.

14. As set out in Schedule "B", the total assets held by the Trust Fund as at March 31, 2002 totalled $790,568,000.00. Additionally, the total unpaid liability of the provincial governments totals $276,939,458.38. The total Trust Funds available (in the Trust Fund or to be paid by provincial governments) for the payment of liabilities to Class Members is, as at March 31, 2002, approximately $1.07 billion.

15. The Joint Committee recommends that the budgets of service providers provide for payment through to June 1, 2003 in order to provide time from March 31, 2003 until June 2003 for the audit and accounting review of the expenses in preparation for a report to the Courts in June 2003.