Energy and Mines News:

BC Government Delays BC Hydro's Long Term Forecast
[On November 2nd] the BC Government announced that it has once again delayed the delivery of BC Hydro's Integrated Resource Plan to Cabinet until August 3, 2013 due to uncertainty of the electricity requirements for the prospective liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects to be located in northern British Columbia. The announcement stated that Government, BC Hydro and LNG proponents are currently negotiating electricity-supply agreements. The good news for the IPP sector is that the use of electricity is under serious consideration.

The potential size of the LNG load is extraordinarily large. Yet the current electricity service to the region is insufficient to meet the potential demand. View the full article posted by Warren G. Brazier with Clark Wilson LLP.

AMEBC Releases BC Budget Consultations Paper
The Association for Mineral Exploration BC (AME BC) is pleased to provide the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services with pre-budget 2013 recommendations. View the AME BC paper.

Family, Wills & Estates News:

Clarification of Process for Legal Counsel
with Respect to Replacing an Executor
The Ministry of Attorney General has posted the following clarification: Where the court orders that one executor is replaced by or substituted for another, the order should also state:

1. That the grant with the name of the old executor be revoked;
2. That the grant be reissued with the name of the new executor;
3. That the old grant and any certified copies of the old grant in the possession of the former executor be returned to the probate registry within X days (such amount of time as counsel believes reasonable).

If the order does not state that the old grant is to be revoked and reissued the original grant would still be in circulation, apparently valid and potentially relied upon by third parties. Therefore, as a matter of practice, the registry will not issue a new grant without counsel obtaining an order revoking the original grant. Read more at the Ministry of Justice website.

Family Law Act – for Justice System Workers and Advocates
John-Paul Boyd has published an overview of the new Family Law Act for people who work in the justice system and legal advocates.

Forest and Environment News:

Beyond the Beetle: An Action Plan for Healthy Forests
(by Steve Thomson, Minister of FLNRO)
With the release of Beyond the Beetle: A Mid-Term Timber Supply Action Plan, we have outlined a clear strategy to help our forests recover from the damage done by the mountain pine beetle infestation.

Unfortunately, the release of the action plan has led to the spread of misinformation and it's important for your readers to know the facts.

Government is not advocating logging in reserves. Reserves have been set up to manage crucial wildlife habitat, biodiversity, viewscapes and old growth forests. Those reserves are important and need to be kept.

If a community believes the reserves no longer serve these purposes, they can initiate a discussion with government. Only then would government consider altering any of those designations. Along with having community support, any proposed changes must be ecologically sound and supported by science. Any such proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Managing our forests is a complex issue, but the outcome we all want is simple: an industry that continues to support workers and communities. In coming up with this plan, we're building on the $884 million we have spent since 2001 fighting the infestation and its environmental and economic impacts. Read the full editorial.

West Coast Ocean Fertilization Project Defended
Dumping iron dust off BC coast violated no laws or treaties, leaders say
The leaders of a controversial ocean fertilization project off the west coast of British Columbia say they have not violated any Canadian or international laws.

In July, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation (HSRC), in conjunction with American businessman Russ George, dumped about 100 tonnes of iron dust into the Pacific Ocean.

The move, which was intended to stimulate plankton growth and help revive salmon populations, has been widely criticized by scientists as reckless and lacking scientific support. View the CBC article.

Salmon Inquiry Commissioner Critical of Fisheries Act Changes
The Cohen commission recommendations, which call for greater protection for sockeye salmon and their habitat, run headlong into federal government measures to water down environmental regulations and cut staff.

Former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen took aim at the federal government Wednesday in his much-anticipated report on the decline of Fraser River sockeye. He said he was "troubled" by recent amendments to the environmental process and the Fisheries Act by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

"Many experts have emphasized the importance of protecting fish habitat, promoting biodiversity and adopting ecosystem-based management practices," said Cohen. "However, the recent amendments to the Fisheries Act appear to be taking (the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) in a very different direction."

Cohen said he was disappointed the federal government didn't wait to introduce the changes in Bill C-38 until after the inquiry was complete. Read the Vancouver Sun article.

Amendment Declares Resource Roads are not Workplaces
On October 15, 2012, Pat Bell, Minister Responsible for Labour signed Order in Council 692, approving changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, B.C. Reg. 296/97. The amendment reads:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), in this Regulation, "workplace" does not include a resource road.
(3) A portion of a resource road is a workplace during any period within which it is being built, maintained, repaired, rehabilitated, stabilized, upgraded removed, or deactivated.
(4) Although a resource road does not constitute a workplace for the purposes of this Regulation, other than in one of the limited circumstances referred to in subsection (3), a reference to a workplace in this Regulation continues to include a thing or place that constitutes a workplace even though that thing, or an activity or the result of an activity initiated or carried out at that place, is in whole or in part on a resource road.

The amendment also provided the following definition:

"resource road" means a road or portion of a road on Crown land, and includes a bridge, culvert, ford or other structure or work associated with the road, but does not include a highway within the meaning of the Transportation Act.

Read the full article posted in Rumblings – Forestry TruckSafe, BC Forest Safety Council.

Health News:

Cheaper Drugs on the Horizon
As patents for brand-name products expire, generic versions will be available at lower prices
Customers are often caught in the middle between pharmacists who are in support of generic drugs and drug companies that spend billions to market their brand. People often believe brands are better; usually this is not the case.

According to IMS Health Canada, 61 per cent of prescriptions are for generic drugs; yet they account for only 24 per cent of the $22.2 billion Canadians spent on prescriptions in 2011.

The BC government recently passed the Pharmaceutical Services Act to further lower the price of generic drugs, but the regulations governing the legislation have yet to be worked out.

The new legislation gives the province the flexibility to set prices by regulation, allowing the government to account for changing circumstances in the industry. Read the Vancouver Sun article.

BC Ponders Sharing Slaughterhouse Scrutiny with Industry –
Meat Inspection Regulations
BC is considering changes to the provincial meat inspection system that off-loads much of the responsibility for scrutiny of the killing floor from government inspectors to trained abattoir staff.

The proposal contained in the Report on the BC Abattoir Inspection Review recommends that staff be trained to examine livestock and carcasses to determine if they are fit for human consumption. Government inspectors would make periodic visits, depending on the level of risk at the facility.

Meat producers and processors are wary of the idea, especially after several million kilograms of beef products were recalled from stores last month after E. coli was detected at the XL Foods packing plant in Brooks, Alberta. Sixteen people in four provinces were sickened by products from the plant. Read the full story on the Vancouver Sun.

All Health Care Workers Should Get Flu Shots, CMA Journal Says
Doctors who refuse to get a flu shot are increasing the risk of their patients dying from flu, Canada's top medical journal is arguing in an editorial calling for mandatory influenza vaccination for health care workers. "No right-thinking physician would ever knowingly harm a patient or fail to do something essential that would result in harm to a patient," Dr. Ken Flegel, senior associate editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal writes in an editorial published Monday. View the Vancouver Sun article.

Labour, Company and Finance News:

November 1^st Amendments
The BC Registry Services has distributed a summary of relevant legislative changes that have come into force November 1^st. These changes have been consolidated on Quickscribe.

Business Corporations Act
OIC 682, approved and Ordered October 11, 2012, brings into force effective November 1, 2012, sections 1 (b), 7, 17 to 32, 33(b), 36, 37(a) to (g) and 38 of the Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2012. These sections amend the Business Corporations Act. Of note is the amendment to section 355 of the Business Corporations Act which, effective November 1, 2012, requires that court orders be obtained to restore an unlimited liability company.

Cooperative Association Act
OIC 682, approved and Ordered October 11, 2012, brings into force effective November 1, 2012, sections 39 to 44 and 48 to 72 of the Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2012. These sections amend the Cooperative Association Act. Of particular interest is the amendment to section 15 of the Cooperative Association Act which removes the requirement that the registrar review associations' rules to determine if they meet the requirements of the Act. Instead, the registry will only be the repository of the rules for public access. Therefore, rules for incorporation and changes to rules from existing cooperative associations that are dated from November 1, 2012, will no longer be examined for compliance.

Financial Institutions Act
Effective November 1, 2012, various amendments to the Financial Institutions Act, from the Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2011, and regulatory amendments come into force. Essentially, these amendments remove references to the Company Act and apply the application of the Business Corporations Act to trust companies and insurance companies.

Credit Union Incorporation Act
Effective November 1, 2012, various amendments to the Credit Union Incorporations Act, from the Finance Statutes Amendment Act, 2011, and regulatory amendments come into force. These amendments remove references to the Company Act and import directly into the Act requirements and/or provisions from the Company Act.

Should you have any questions regarding these amendments, please contact Debbie Turner, A/Deputy Registrar, at Debbie.Turner@gov.bc.ca.

BC Government Probes Report of Illegal Recruiting Practices –
Employment Standards Act
The BC government has launched an investigation into reports that recruiters in China are breaking BC laws while arranging for Chinese nationals to work in BC coal mines.

The government is responding to a media report alleging Chinese miners are being asked to pay more than $12,500 for the opportunity to work in Canada.

"We are now investigating the matter," Andy Watson, a spokesman for the BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, stated in an email Friday.

The report, based on an exchange between a reporter with the Tyee news website and companies posting job ads on a Chinese website similar to Craigslist, said prospective employees were being charged $12,500.

Watson said several provisions of the BC Employment Standards Act prohibit companies and recruiters from charging foreign workers or docking their pay in order to assist with job placements in Canada. Those who violate the law can be fined up to $10,000. Read the Vancouver Sun article.

Overview of the New Provincial Sales Tax
In this paper written for the recent CLEBC course: End of the HST: Update 2012, Noah Sarna of Thorsteinssons LLP provides an overview of the new provincial sales tax, including: the mechanics of the PST, differences between the PST and the SST, and what's taxable now. The paper is available on the CLEBC website.

Local Government News:

Mayors Meet Developers
Mayors from Langley and its neighbours talked about growth
Opportunities and plans for the future were presented by local mayors to hundreds of development professionals on October 10. The first Urban Development Institute (UDI) lunch in the Fraser Valley was hosted by the Township at the Langley Events Centre. The event included a trade show spotlighting participating communities and presentations by seven mayors who discussed growth in recent years and opportunities around the Fraser Valley.

"The Urban Development Institute has been serving the Pacific Region for 40 years," said Township of Langley Mayor Jack Froese. "During that time, we have seen a lot of changes and a lot of growth in this area – but it is nothing compared to what we expect to see in the decades to come." Read the full article by Langley Advance.

Parent Opposes "Religious Marketing" in Chilliwack Schools
The Chilliwack school board is getting ready to discuss a regulation that one parent has said endorses "religious marketing" in local schools. Richard Ajabu said his daughter, who attends Sardis elementary, came home with a glossy colour brochure from Gideons International, an evangelical Protestant association that has handed out free bibles to Canadian Grade 5 public school students since 1946. The brochure, which doubles as a parent consent form for kids to receive a free bible, states "It is often in grade five that a child begins asking the big questions of life: what is right and wrong, what is the purpose of life, and what happens when we die" and includes a picture of the Gideon testament, which features a red cover with pictures of smiling children above the title "Answer Book." Read more in the Chilliwack Times.

Local Government Opposes Changes to Building Regulatory System
At the 2012 UBCM Convention, the UBCM membership endorsed the policy paper Modernizing Building Code Safety Regulations, and in doing so expressed their opposition to proposed provincial changes to the building regulatory system. The proposed changes would grant the provincial government sole authority to adopt building standards across BC, divesting local government of any jurisdiction over the building regulatory process. The Province suggests that these changes will reduce the cost of building construction.

Local government recognizes the need to ensure that housing is affordable; however, they place strong emphasis on the need for flexibility in meeting this objective and suggest that a "one size fits all" approach is not the best solution. As detailed in the policy paper, local government supports an alternative approach to the building regulatory process, founded upon the development of an ongoing partnership between the development industry, local government and the provincial government. View the full article published on the UBCM website.

Miscellaneous News:

Provincial Government Plans Justice System Overhaul
New council to address backlogs and improve management of cases, of which more than 2,500 have been waiting at least 14 months for trial
A new Justice and Public Safety Council will be created to co-ordinate the transformation of BC's troubled legal system, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Shirley Bond announced Monday.

In releasing the White Paper on Justice Reform, Part One: A Modern, Transparent Justice System, Bond said the council will hold regular meetings with stakeholders and produce an annual plan as part of a 10-step fix-it program. She said the government and the Provincial Court also would work together on developing a new trial-scheduling system to eliminate backlogs that have drawn severe criticism. Read the full article at the Vancouver Sun.

BC Government to Amend Law to Allow Charities to Auction Booze
BC will abolish an outdated liquor law that prevented Victoria's Belfry Theatre from auctioning donated bottles of wine, says the minister responsible for alcohol.

Rich Coleman said Friday that it is regrettable the Belfry Theatre had to cancel a fundraiser because the government's liquor branch would not issue a special-occasion licence.

"This was basically an inspector ... taking the law to the purest form," said Coleman, "It affected the Belfry, which was unfortunate."

He said he altered government policy immediately so groups can auction donated wine or other alcohol as part of a gift basket. Auctioning donated wine by itself is part of a law the government will need to change when the legislature resumes sitting in February. Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

Motor Vehicle and Traffic News:

Top Court Gives Leeway on Breathalyzer Drunk-Driving Defence
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says his department is reviewing a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck down some changes to the Criminal Code dealing with drinking and driving.

Three years ago, the federal government amended the law, making it more difficult to fight charges of driving under the influence.

"Our government takes the issue of impaired driving very seriously. That is why we took action to toughen our laws and keep our communities safe," Nicholson said in a statement Friday.

Nicholson said those amendments were to ensure "only scientifically valid defences" could be used as evidence to refute a roadside breathalyzer test that showed a motorist to be above the legal blood-alcohol content limit of 0.08.

Under those new rules, anyone challenging a drunk-driving charge after testing over the legal limit on a roadside breathalyzer had to prove the machine malfunctioned or was misused, and that a high reading was the result. View the CBC article.

Amendment Declares Resource Roads are not Workplaces
On October 15, 2012, Pat Bell, Minister Responsible for Labour signed Order in Council 692, approving changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, B.C. Reg. 296/97. The amendment reads:

(2) Subject to subsection (3), in this Regulation, "workplace" does not include a resource road.
(3) A portion of a resource road is a workplace during any period within which it is being built, maintained, repaired, rehabilitated, stabilized, upgraded removed, or deactivated.
(4) Although a resource road does not constitute a workplace for the purposes of this Regulation, other than in one of the limited circumstances referred to in subsection (3), a reference to a workplace in this Regulation continues to include a thing or place that constitutes a workplace even though that thing, or an activity or the result of an activity initiated or carried out at that place, is in whole or in part on a resource road.

The amendment also provided the following definition:

"resource road" means a road or portion of a road on Crown land, and includes a bridge, culvert, ford or other structure or work associated with the road, but does not include a highway within the meaning of the Transportation Act.

Read the full article posted in Rumblings – Forestry TruckSafe, BC Forest Safety Council.

Motorist With Right of Way Found 25% at Fault for Speeding
and Failing to Keep a Proper Lookout
As previously discussed, having the right of way is not always enough to escape fault (or partial fault) for a collision. If a dominant motorist fails to react reasonably in the face of an obvious hazard, liability can follow despite having the right of way. This was demonstrated in reasons for judgement released this week by the BC Supreme Court, New Westminster Registry.

In this week's case (Currie v. Taylor), the Defendant was travelling down Highway 97 near Vernon, BC. The Plaintiff, approaching from the Defendant's right, left his stop sign attempting a left hand turn.

The Defendant had the right of way and the Plaintiff's actions were found to be negligent. The Defendant, however, was also found at fault for speeding and failing to react reasonably to the obvious hazard that the Plaintiff created. To view the reasons provided by Mr. Justice Armstrong in assessing the Defendant 25% at fault, see the full article on the BC Injury Law Blog.

Real Estate and Builders Lien News:

Condo Life is Rife with Conflict – Strata Property Act
With 10 percent of units in need of renewal, 14-year old Strata Property Act is due for an overhaul, sooner rather than later
The biggest flaw in the act that governs the lives of close to a million British Columbians is that it assumes people will always act in the best interest of the group.

Little in human history supports that notion. But that's the foundation upon which the 14-year-old Strata Property Act sets the rules for the operation and management of the estimated 700,000 condominium units in the province.

Add money to the mix and toxic situations can and do arise.

It often starts when buildings are new. Even though expenses are at their lowest, it's often difficult to get the majority of owners to agree to the appropriate monthly fees to cover ongoing maintenance, operation and replacement.

It's difficult because so many owners – especially in the Lower Mainland – have spent all but their last dime buying the place. View the Vancouver Sun article.

Credit Unions Escape New Mortgage Rules
Tough new mortgage guidelines announced last month by the federal banking regulator are aimed at letting some of the air out of Canada's over-inflated housing market. The trouble is, some of the rules don't affect credit unions, which make up a significant chunk of the consumer loan market in British Columbia, Quebec and other provinces.

That's because credit unions, as provincially regulated institutions, are not part of the jurisdiction of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

According to CanadianMortgageTrends.com, which provides a detailed explanation here, that loophole may provide an important competitive advantage for credit unions at a time when financial institutions are fighting tooth and nail for lending marketshare, especially on the consumer side.

The idea behind the rules is simple: Restrict the flow of credit and consumer spending has to come down. Read the full Financial Post article.