Energy and Mines News:

Powering British Columbia's Future: The Clean Energy Act
On April 28, 2010, the government introduced Bill 17, the Clean Energy Act. The Act provides a foundation to assist the province in achieving its goals of electricity self-sufficiency, job creation and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Act builds on the work of the Green Energy Advisory Task Force, which was appointed in November 2009 to provide recommendations for a comprehensive clean energy development strategy in BC. The proposed Act is designed to ensure electricity self-sufficiency at low rates, harness BC's clean power potential to create jobs in all regions of the province and strengthen environmental stewardship and reducing GHG emissions. See the full article as published by Blakes.

MABC and JIESC call Clean Energy Act
balanced approach
The Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee (JIESC) called the proposed Clean Energy Act a balanced approach towards achieving a range of objectives, including maintaining BC's competitive electricity rates. See the full article as reported on the MABC website.

Will the BP spill affect future oil projects in B.C.?
By the most conservative estimates, millions of litres of oil have already spilled in the Gulf of Mexico following a rig explosion last month. But what does the environmental catastrophe mean for future oil projects in B.C.? Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom told reporters recently that the Gulf of Mexico disaster was not necessarily "a game changer," and that the province would still consider offshore oil exploration. See the News Story as reported on CTV.

Gulf oil spill fuels West Coast tanker fears
Environmentalists in B.C. say the oil spill off the U.S. coast should serve as a warning about risks the oil and gas industry could pose to the West Coast of Canada. There are concerns the environmental impact of the ongoing spill from the well of the wrecked Deepwater Horizon drill rig could be worse than the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster that devastated Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989. See the News Story as reported by CBC news.

Family, Wills and Estates News:

Newly proposed legislation limits children's
watchdog's access to cabinet documents
B.C.'s children's watchdog says she's been "blindsided" by government legislation that would limit her access to cabinet documents, and effectively "dismantle" a key power of her independent office. Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said she's locked in a heated battle with the Liberal government over whether she's entitled to see sensitive internal cabinet documents as part of her job to oversee the child welfare system. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

New Supreme Court Family Rules
Effective July 1, 2010, the new Supreme Court Family Rules (B.C. Reg. 169/2009) and Civil Rules (B.C. Reg. 168/2009) will come into force. To assist you, Quickscribe has posted a preview version on line.

Forest and Environment News:

New tenure focuses on First Nations
involved in forestry
The Forests and Range (First Nations Woodland Licence) Statutes Amendment Act, 2010 (Bill 13) introduced April 26th provides for a new forest tenure that is unique to First Nations. The new First Nations' woodland licence is an area-based tenure and can include private and reserve land. As well, through amendments to the Range Act, government can also award hay-cutting licences or grazing licences to First Nations with signed interim measures agreements. See the News Release.

Forestry Service Providers Protection Act

• Will replace the Woodworker Lien Act - This Bill 21 repeals the Woodworker Lien Act, provides contractors with liens against forest products and provides contractors and subcontractors with charges on all accounts due to forest products owners and contractors respectively. See the News Release.
• Protect loggers with an insurance fund - The province is paving the way for creation of an insurance fund designed to protect small logging contractors from the financial failures of companies they work for. Other initiatives include the ability for logging contractors to put subordinate liens on logs if they are unpaid, refuse work for nonpayment without voiding contracts and in the case of bankruptcy proceedings, succession (rights to logging contracts when a new company takes over an insolvent firm). See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Pollution convictions dropping, watchdog says
The enforcement of B.C.'s environmental laws is in crisis, with the conviction rate last year deemed to be the lowest in more than 20 years, says an environmental watchdog. Last week, the province released its fourth quarterly compliance and enforcement summary, revealing that the total number of tickets issued in 2009 was 2,181, of which 34 led to convictions. See the News Story as reported by Times Colonist.

COFI reiterates support for HST
Last year COFI pledged 100% support for the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST); that support remains in place today and for the future. B.C. has an export based economy. Wealth is created through the development and export of forest products, coal, minerals, natural gas and other resources. International competition is fierce and our current GST and PST (provincial sales tax) places us at a distinct competitive disadvantage. See the News Story as reported in the COFI newsletter.

Proposed legislation to expand rural
B.C. loans program
Small businesses in rural B.C. will benefit from amendments introduced in the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2010 (Bill 11), that will enable the Forestry Community Business Loans Program to assist a broader range of rural small businesses. See the News Release.

Health News:

B.C. to Announce new health care funding formula
B.C. hospitals could soon be competing for business under a new health funding formula expected to be introduced shortly. Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon is poised to announce a patient-based funding system that includes rewarding hospitals for treating more patients and cutting wait times. Falcon is also expected to form a new organization to oversee future health funding in B.C. See the News Story as reported by CTV.

Law to require health facilities to report gun, stab wounds
The Gunshot and Stab Wound Disclosure Act (Bill 12) has passed third reading. It would make it mandatory for health care facilities across the province to report all gunshot wounds, and most stab wounds, to police. The measure is meant to give authorities a jump on investigating potentially criminal activities, and comes largely in response to recent gang violence throughout the Lower Mainland. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Ministry of Health Act amendments
The Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2010 (Bill 11), proposes amendments to the Ministry of Health Act which aim to provide certainty for the Ministry of Health Services to collect, use and disclose personal data critical for the responsible governance of the health-care system. For example, without the correct data, the ministry cannot administer critical projects, such as the provincial surgical waitlist registry. See the News Release.

New Veterinarians Act introduced
On April 14, a new Veterinarians Act (Bill 10) was introduced in the House. This Bill repeals and replaces the current Veterinarians Act (RSBC 1996, c. 476), modernizing the Act's language and structure and making processes under the Act more consistent with those of other self-governing professions, among other significant changes.

Labour, Company and Finance News:

Proposed tax changes
The Financial Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2010, (Bill 19), proposes to make amendments to the following statutes: Income Tax Act, International Financial Activity Act and the Land Tax Deferment Act, among others. For a detailed breakdown of how this newly introduced Bill will impact these statutes please see the Information Bulletin.

B.C. labour law in the context of business transactions
There are significant human resources and employment related issues that arise from the purchase, sale or merger of all or part of a business. For anyone considering purchasing a business that has employees represented by a trade union, there are provisions of the B.C. Labour Relations Code that can have a material effect on the transaction and planned operations, and it is important to consider those provisions from the beginning. See the full article written by by Heather Hettiarachchi as posted by Clark Wilson.

New Supreme Court Civil Rules
Effective July 1, 2010, the new Supreme Court Civil Rules (B.C. Reg. 168/2009) and Family Rules (B.C. Reg. 169/2009) will come into force. To assist you, Quickscribe has posted a preview version on line. Dye & Durham has published an extensive list of Frequently Asked Questions related to the new B.C. Civil Rules. The questions cover a wide range of topics, including amending a notice of civil claim, the mediation process, appearances & responses, and service deadlines for expert evidence. See the Civil Rules FAQs.

Consumer Taxation Branch
For the latest Bulletins from the Consumer Taxation Branch, see What's New.

Local Government News:

Amendments introduced to the Local Government Act,
Community Charter, Greater Vancouver Sewerage and
Drainage District Act, Islands Trust Act and
Vancouver Charter
The Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2010 (Bill 11), proposes amendments that respond to land use and development concerns raised by local governments and the development industry. They provide greater local government flexibility and increased certainty to the development community. Amendments also modernize existing planning and development tools, improve regional growth management processes, address gaps and streamline some administrative matters for local governments. Changes to the Vancouver Charter will provide the City of Vancouver with more flexibility to regulate solid waste, providing the same authority other municipalities have under the Community Charter. See the News Release.

Proposed legislation to expand rural
B.C. loans program
Small businesses in rural B.C. will benefit from amendments introduced in the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2010 (Bill 11), that will enable the Forestry Community Business Loans Program to assist a broader range of rural small businesses. See the News Release.

Government gives $125 million boost to B.C. municipalities
The Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, announced recently that municipalities across British Columbia are getting an advance payment of $125 million in Gas Tax Funding to help them make the most of the spring and summer construction seasons. For the second consecutive year, the Government of Canada is accelerating its payment of Gas Tax Fund three months early. This is part of the Government's Economic Action Plan which aims to boost employment and help communities emerge stronger than ever from the economic downturn. See the News Release.

Motor Vehicle and Traffic News:

Changes to Motor Vehicle Act
Two newly introduced Bills propose to bring into force a number of changes to the Motor Vehicle Act

• Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2010 (Bill 11), amendments provide stronger oversight of vehicle-inspection programs through improved monitoring, the ability to impose conditions on inspectors and facilities and a streamlined process for updating inspection standards. Legal authority under vehicle-inspection programs will be enhanced to remove unsafe vehicles from highways.
• Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2010, (Bill 14), amendments bring about a number of changes, including permitting ICBC to cancel the driver's licence of a person who fails to pay a monetary penalty; permits a peace officer, other than the peace officer who first had grounds to believe a person operated a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration over .08 or made a demand on the person to provide a breath sample, to serve a notice of driving prohibition; and adds new graduated driving prohibitions of 3, 7, 30 or 90 days in circumstances where a person operates a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration equal to or greater than .05.

Tough new laws aimed at drinking drivers in B.C.
Even those under legal limit would face fines, suspensions
The British Columbia government announced a tough new drinking-and-driving law Tuesday that will allow police to immediately fine and suspend drivers caught with a blood-alcohol level as low as .05. Calling them the toughest drinking-and-driving rules in Canada, Solicitor-General Mike de Jong said the new law is meant to dramatically change the behaviour of drivers throughout the province. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

B.C. says it's taken action to fix problems
after van crash killed 3 farmworkers
The B.C. government says it's addressing all of the recommendations made by a coroner's jury that looked into the deaths of three farmworkers in a van crash in 2007. Among its 18 recommendations, the jury called for more random inspections of vehicles used to transport farmworkers and classifying 15-passenger vans as high-risk vehicles. The government says actions to address all of the recommendations have either been completed or are continuing, including new legislation aimed at improving the safety of people in 15-passenger vans. See the News Story.

Diesel emission reduction retrofit
required October 2010
An amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations (B.C. Reg. 26/58) will come into effect on October 1, 2010 that will require that heavy duty diesel vehicles of the model years 1989-1993 be retrofitted with emissions reduction devices. This requirement will apply to vehicles with licensed gross vehicles weights of more than 8,200 kg that are required to be inspected under the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Program (CVIP). See the circular issued by CVSE.

Real Estate and Builders Lien News:

Lease take-Overs: Key issues and concerns
A lease take-over is an arrangement whereby a landlord agrees to assume some or all of the prospective tenant's remaining obligations under its existing lease in order to induce the tenant to enter into a new lease for premises in the landlord's building. The landlord would typically assume these obligations under the tenant's existing lease from and after the commencement date of the new lease. See the full article as reported by Blakes.

Government questioned about impact
of HST on strata fees
On April 21 in Question Period in the Legislature, the Official Opposition challenged the government about the impact of HST on strata fees. See the transcript as posted by the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Assocation.

Who manages the property managers?
Condo living is carefree living, right? A strata council hires a strata management company and it takes care of the bills, the bookkeeping, the AGM, the council minutes ... whatever needs to be done. For that full management service, the strata corporation pays anywhere from $20 to $30 per "door" per month in Greater Vancouver. Since 2006, all strata managers must be licensed by the Real Estate Council of B.C., but the relationship between a strata council and the contracted providers of services are sometimes strained. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Barking dog costs owners $17,000
Fine underscores need for independent
arbitration, officials say
A Nanaimo couple who were fined a whopping $17,000 by their strata because of their barking Shih Tzu/poodle cross say they want their money back. The money was handed over to the strata council upon the sale of their condo. Some people said the issue reveals a weakness in strata legislation for settling disputes while some of their neighbours simply believe the fines were too steep. See the News Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.