Energy and Mines News:

Proposed Changes to Clean Energy Act
Bill No.7, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2011 was introduced May 5th. If passed, this Bill will amend the Clean Energy Act with the intent of allowing B.C. families and businesses to finance energy efficiency improvements to their homes or businesses through a loan from their utility company, BC Hydro or FortisBC. Through Pay-as-you-Save (PAYS) financing, British Columbians can pay for energy efficiency improvements on their utility bill and have the option to transfer the loan to the next owner/renter when they move. In many cases, B.C. families and businesses will be able to cover the cost of energy efficiency retrofits through their energy savings.

Encana strikes new deal with B.C.'s Pacific Carbon Trust
Encana and the British Columbia government's Pacific Carbon Trust have a new deal that's expected to cut emissions from gas flaring in northeast B.C.

The Carbon Trust is purchasing 84,000 tonnes of carbon offsets from Encana on the basis of some innovative greenhouse gas reduction technology the gas producer is employing in the Jean Marie formation near Fort Nelson.

The agreement commits the trust to buy an additional 30,000 tonnes of carbon offsets through 2012. The trust does not disclose the per-tonne price it pays private sector companies to modernize or transform industrial processes in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Companies cutting emissions earn carbon "credits" for each tonne of emissions they curtail. Those credits represent a form of currency that is considered a cornerstone for global efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.

In B.C., the Carbon Trust has a system to verify each tonne of offsets it buys, before selling them at $25 a tonne to government ministries and agencies that are mandated by the province to be carbon neutral. View the full article in the Vancouver Sun.

Family, Wills and Estates News:

Proposed Changes to Family Maintenance Enforcement Act
Bill No.7, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2011 was introduced May 5th. If passed, this Bill will amend the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act by streamlining processes, eliminating unnecessary filing requirements and making the enforcement of maintenance obligations more effective. The amendment will also reduce workload and costs for court services and family maintenance enforcement program staff.

CRA to Change Sharing of Child Benefits
Effective July 1, 2011, the Canada Revenue Agency will be changing its method for allocating the Canada Child Tax Benefit between separated parents who share their children's time equally or near-equally.

Under the new rule, when parents have shared custody the CRA will pay to each parent one-half of the benefits that parent would be entitled to receive if that parent were the only person entitled to the benefits. This will end the six month rotation of eligibility and will index the amount paid to only the income of the recipient. Read the entire post by John-Paul Boyd (Family Law Resource Blog).

Forest and Environment News:

Proposed Changes to Clean Energy Act
Bill No.7, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2011 was introduced May 5th. If passed, this Bill will amend the Clean Energy Act with the intent on allowing B.C. families and businesses to finance energy efficiency improvements to their homes or businesses through a loan from their utility company, BC Hydro or FortisBC. Through Pay-as-you-Save (PAYS) financing, British Columbians can pay for energy efficiency improvements on their utility bill and have the option to transfer the loan to the next owner/renter when they move. In many cases, B.C. families and businesses will be able to cover the cost of energy efficiency retrofits through their energy savings.

Wood-First Act Initiative Questioned After Fire Destroys Complex in Richmond
A recent fire in a wooden complex in Richmond raises concerns about changes to the B.C. Building Code that allow taller wood-frame buildings, a fire prevention engineer says. These buildings are at their most vulnerable to fire and pose the greatest threat to surrounding buildings when they're in the construction phase, said Sean Tracey, Canadian regional director of the National Fire Protection Association.

"This fire happened at the worst possible time," he said. Tracey isn't calling for a complete moratorium on taller wood-frame buildings, but said these buildings should never be built in communities that don't have adequate tools to fight this type of fire. Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun.

B.C. government axes unpopular parking fees for provincial parks
Clark says the action will not result in a cut to the provincial parks budget
Axing an unpopular tax proved to be a walk in the park Tuesday for Premier Christy Clark. Clark honoured a leadership campaign promise by cancelling parking fees in provincial parks, an initiative introduced by the Liberal government in 2003 when she was deputy premier. View the full story in the Vancouver Sun.

Health News:

NDP/Liberals Agree - New Provincial Pesticide Laws
Required to Protect Health of Children
NDP leader Adrian Dix wants to ban the sale of pesticides, saying the chemicals pose a health threat to children and have been linked to an increased risk of a number of cancers. He accused the Liberal government of failing to restrict the use of what he termed "cosmetic pesticides."

"Last Earth Day we introduced legislation to ban the frivolous use of cosmetic pesticides, but the B.C. Liberals refused to support it," said Dix, Wednesday. "More than 70 per cent of British Columbians support the phase-out of cosmetic pesticides. It's clear that this is another case where New Democratic values are mainstream values," he claimed. However, later in the day Premier Christy Clark said she has supported banning pesticide for years. Read the full story in the Vancouver Sun.

Watchdog launches challenge to assisted suicide laws
B.C.'s civil liberties watchdog is suing the Canadian government in an attempt to reverse laws banning doctor-assisted suicide for seriously ill people.
The BC Civil Liberties Association lawsuit, filed in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday, contends that laws prohibiting assisted dying deny people the right to make choices about their physical and emotional dignity.

"We want every Canadian to have a choice to have what they consider to be a good death," Grace Pastine, litigation director for the BCCLA, told reporters at a Vancouver press conference. "Inflicting unbearable suffering on individuals, on dying patients who wish to end their lives, is unjust, unacceptable and unconstitutional."

The BCCLA is asking for changes to the Criminal Code that would allow mentally competent adults with incurable diseases the right to seek medical help to end their lives. View the story on CTV.

Labour, Company and Finance News:

HST referendum legislation introduced
Attorney General Barry Penner introduced the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) Initiative Vote and Referendum Act (Bill 4) April 27th, recognizing that a mail-in vote will be conducted prior to the vote currently required under the Recall and Initiative Act.

If approved by the legislature, the amendment will remove the requirement for the initiative vote under the Recall and Initiative Act. It also confirms that the Recall and Initiative Act does not apply to the referendum to be conducted under the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) Referendum Regulation.

As the requirement to hold the initiative vote is contained in legislation, a legislative change is required to cancel it. Without this legislation, the chief electoral officer would be required to hold a second vote under the terms of the Recall and Initiative Act on Sept. 24, 2011. Read the government news release.

Consumer Taxation Branch
Bulletin MFT-CT 006, Self-Assessing Motor fuel and Carbon Tax, is a new bulletin that replaces Notice 2008-022: Self-Assessing Carbon Tax. This bulletin also includes motor fuel tax information on self-assessing. See What's New.

Local Government News:

Municipal electoral reform placed on Liberal party's back burner
Some changes could be easily accomplished before November civic elections – but the provincial government may not go ahead until 2014
The following is an opinion piece by Nick Procaylo of the Vancouver Sun:
Foreigners financed campaigns. Anonymous individuals and groups ran nasty ads and never owned up to paying for them. Citizens, whose responsibility it is to police the scant rules, had such limited access to financial disclosures and documents that their complaints were made too late. Even police concluded that the electoral laws' vagueness protects the bad guys. Read more.

Vancouver City Council Posts Expenses Online
April 27, 2011 – The City of Vancouver today set a new standard for openness and accountability at City Hall, by posting detailed budgets and expenses for Mayor and Council on its website as part of its commitment to open and transparent government. The online posting of Council expenses is believed to be the first by any municipality in British Columbia.

"By posting the detailed expenses of council online, we're improving our accountability to the citizens of Vancouver," said Mayor Gregor Robertson. "Previously, these expenses could only be accessed through Freedom of Information requests; now anyone can click online and see for themselves. It's a small but simple step to proactively release information." Click here for full news release by the city.

Miscellaneous News:

Maa-nulth Agreement
The remainder of the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act came into force April 1, 2011 with a number of resulting consequential amendments to various Acts. In turn, some of those amendments were further changed by other bills.

Motor Vehicle and Traffic News:

Changes Proposed to Late Night Gas Station Laws
The B.C. government is proposing changes to one of the regulations brought in to protect overnight staff working at gas stations and retail stores from thieves and violence, commonly known as Grant's Law.

The proposed changes to the WorkSafeBC regulations would loosen regulations that now require late-night workers to either be physically separated from the public with a locked door or to work in pairs.

Under the proposal, employers would have a third option – to put in place a violence prevention program involving time lock safes for cash, surveillance systems, personal emergency transmitters and regular security audits. Full Story on CBC.

A B.C. first: Court orders repeat drunk drivers to forfeit their cars
Police laud new means to dissuade drinkers from getting behind the wheel
Drinking and driving in B.C. just got more expensive for repeat offenders. Two Victoria-area men with impaired-driving records have lost their vehicles to forfeiture – the first time this has happened in B.C.

"It is clear that some drivers refuse to get the message that drinking and driving is against the law," Solicitor-General Shirley Bond said Tuesday. Victoria police officers went to court under B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Act to ask a B.C. Supreme Court judge to forfeit the vehicles of Stephen Henry of Victoria and Anthony Raymond of Saanich, who have had convictions for impaired driving.

Police applaud the measure, but civil libertarians are opposed to using a civil procedure where a criminal remedy is already on the books. View the full article in The Province.

Proposed changes to WorkSafeBC OHS Regulations
The Board of Directors of WorkSafeBC approved public hearings to be held in May - June 2011 to consider several proposed regulatory amendments, including a change to Part 16. This proposed change relates to requirements for trailer units with a dump box to have a permanently affixed mechanical device capable of supporting the empty box in the raised position. Source: BC Forestry Safety Council: Rumblings.

Real Estate and Builders Lien News:

Lease Take-Overs: Key Issues and Concerns
Dan Kofman and Beth Earon (Student-at-law):
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.

Such arrangements often arise in the context of the construction of new, large office buildings wherein the financing of the project may be dependant on lease agreements having been signed with tenants representing a certain percentage of the leasable square footage of the building. In such situations, the landlord is incentivized to induce one or two significant-sized "anchor" tenants into lease agreements in order to meet such financing thresholds. Sophisticated tenants, however, are conscious of the probability of delays inherent in any large construction endeavour and are wary of the risks that may result. The new building may take several months or even years to complete, and the planned completion date may be delayed by construction or other issues. As a result, a tenant may lack some degree of certainty as to when it will be able to occupy its new premises and, in the interim, how to deal with its existing premises and landlord. In particular, the tenant may lack the ability to overhold in its existing premises and be forced to face the very real possibility of having nowhere to go after the expiry of its existing lease if the new premises are not ready for occupancy at that time. Most tenants cannot bear the business interruption risk of office downtime between lease arrangements. View the full article published by Blakes.

Strata caught off guard by changes to eviction process
By Suzanne Morphet, Special to The Sun April 16, 2011
What does a landlord do if a tenant is throwing wild parties or terrorizing the neighbours? B.C. landlords can issue an eviction notice and, if that doesn't work, they can apply for an Order of Possession from the Residential Tenancy Branch of the ministry responsible for housing. It's a relatively easy procedure, usually done by teleconference. According to one Vancouver lawyer, that's been the case whether the action was initiated by the legal landlord or a strata corporation acting as such because the landlord was unaware of a problem or unwilling to do anything about it. View the Vancouver Sun article.