Law & legal issues

#BoycottTims? It’s about time.

Jun 9, 2015
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Twitter was raging against Tim Hortons last Thursday. According to the Ottawa Sun, for much of the day the hottest trending topic in Canada was #BoycottTims. It’s about time, I thought to myself, these allegations have been in the news for at least a couple of years. Back in 2013, a group of Tims employees… View Article

Ok, Let’s Talk.

Jan 29, 2015
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Yesterday was Bell Let’s Talk Day 2015.  You might have heard about it.  According to Bell, a record 122,150,772 Bell Let’s Talk tweets, texts, calls, and shares on January 28, 2015 translated into a new donation of $6,107,538 to mental health initiatives. Let’s Talk is a multi-year campaign focused on four “action pillars” related to… View Article

A lesbian walks into a Torts class…

Jun 12, 2014
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A lesbian walks into a Torts class at Trinity Western University in Langley.  Her name is Mary. Even before the discussion of Donoghue v. Stevenson begins, Mary is told to leave because she admits to having engaged in a “sexual expression of intimacy” with her same-sex partner at their home in Surrey. “But we’re married,” she… View Article

Thank you, Hugh Segal

Feb 21, 2013
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The debate on Bill C-377 has moved to the Senate. As many Policy Note readers probably know, Bill C-377 would impose onerous and unfair financial and operational disclosure obligations on unions and other labour organizations, in the lofty name of “transparency and accountability,” but with the actual malicious aim of weakening Labour and publicizing the… View Article

An inadequate appeal process for tenants means a bumpy ride for everyone

Jan 24, 2013
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(Co-authored by Kendra Milne and Jess Hadley, staff lawyers at the Community Legal Assistance Society) Earlier this week, we read with interest Kathy Tomlinson’s January 21st CBC Go Public story, “Landlords ‘powerless’ as tenants get free ride”, which investigates one family of tenants who have apparently taken advantage of several successive landlords.  In her article,… View Article

Need for a Regional Police Force

Jan 3, 2013
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Creating a Vancouver region police force is at least one recommendation of the Missing Women Inquiry that should be put into effect as soon as possible. This will be difficult, mainly because the RCMP, with a 20 year contract that was put in place last March, is not going to be easily dislodged from the… View Article

Imbalance in residential tenancy rights enforcement in BC

Oct 25, 2012
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Yesterday some media outlets reported that the Residential Tenancy Branch has conditionally waived the first (and to my knowledge only) administrative penalty it has issued. BC’s Residential Tenancy Act was amended in 2006 to allow the Branch to issue administrative penalties, essentially monetary fines, against landlords or tenants that contravene the Act or repeatedly ignore… View Article

Getting it Wrong For Seniors in British Columbia

Sep 27, 2012
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Seniors and their families need and should have access to useful information when they are making critical decisions about residential care and throughout the period of residence in facilities. — BC Ombudsperson, The Best of Care: Getting It Right for Seniors in British Columbia (Part 1) Mass replacement of staff can occur when facility operators switch… View Article

Christy Clark, George Abbott – meet Jeffrey Moore

Mar 14, 2012
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There’s a freight train heading for BC’s education system — and it’s not being driven by government or teachers. This train hit the tracks long before the current collective bargaining dispute. Its operator is an eight-year-old boy from North Vancouver, named Jeffrey Moore. With the support of his family, Jeffrey is driving a human rights… View Article