Where a plaintiff's need for domestic assistance is attributable in part to a non-compensable injury, the court must consider what the plaintiff could and could not do if the only problem was the compensable injury, and discount the domestic assistance award accordingly. Unlike earning capacity, which tends to be all or nothing, domestic capacity can be affected to greater or lesser extents, requiring separate analysis. Hodgson JA also questioned in obiter whether the Van Gervan principle truly requires courts to ignore existing domestic arrangements with family members when assessing domestic assistance claims.
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