Company and Finance News:

Unanimous Shareholder Agreements and Section 137 of the
Business Corporations Act (British Columbia): A Comparison
Shareholder agreements are a frequently used tool when individuals or companies establish a new company or invest in an existing company. In general terms, a shareholder agreement is a contract between two or more shareholders of a company and often the company itself, which supplements and is subject to the articles of the company as well as the relevant corporate legislation. Among other things, such agreements typically seek to establish the basic entitlements and obligations of the respective parties in relation to the management of the business of the company, fundamental changes or major decisions, share transfers, changes in ownership of the corporation, the resolution of disputes among shareholders, exit mechanisms for shareholders that wish to sell their shares, and the protection of minority shareholders. Read the full article by Maggie Cavallin with Clark Wilson LLP. 

PST Accounting, Reporting Review Available for Business
Businesses can sign up now to have a government PST specialist review their accounting and reporting systems to ensure their systems are properly set up to comply with provincial sales tax laws, announced Minister of State for Small Business Naomi Yamamoto. The PST education program is a general review of a business’ accounts and systems to ensure they are set up correctly to collect, report, remit and pay the PST. It is not a records or transactional review; however, a small sample of invoices may be used to help with the system review. The education program is not an audit, so businesses won’t be issued a tax assessment for any errors noted. If the PST hasn’t been correctly paid, collected, or remitted, the business will be advised of the corrective actions needed and will have the opportunity to correct the mistakes on their next PST return. If the business doesn’t correct the errors noted in the review and undergoes a future audit, the errors would be subject to an assessment, plus any applicable penalties and interest. Read government news release.

New PST Bulletins
The Consumer Tax website has posted a number of bulletins, notices and updates this month. Some of the latest bulletins include:

• Bulletin PST 205, Books, Magazines, Newspapers and Other Publications, is a new bulletin that provides information on how the PST applies to books, magazines, newspapers and other publications.
• Bulletin PST 206, Grocery and Drug Stores, is a new bulletin that provides information to help grocery and drug stores understand how the PST applies to their businesses.
• The FIN 441, Certificate of Exemption – Multijurisdictional Vehicles is available and allows certain purchasers to claim an exemption from PST as of April 1, 2013.

Energy and Mines News:

On-Bill Financing Pilots to be Expanded Next Year
Through a regulation, the Province is expanding the on-bill financing pilots to Vancouver Island and Kelowna, beginning in January 2014. This program helps families finance energy efficiency improvements to their homes through a loan from their utility company, BC Hydro or FortisBC. These pilots apply to single-family and row houses that are owned by the utility account holder. In many cases, families will pay for their energy efficiency retro-fits through their energy savings alone. Through the On-Bill Financing Pilot projects in Colwood and the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen that began in November 2012, homeowners can pay for their energy efficiency improvements over time on their utility bill with no upfront costs. The regulation also makes it easier to participate in the pilots by changing the eligibility criteria to allow people with one missed bill payment over the past year to enter the program. View the Improvement Financing Regulation, B.C. Reg. 236/2012, and read the government Information Bulletin.

Clark Challenges NDP Leader over Pipelines, Budget
Kinder Morgan, Northern Gateway dominate radio debate
Premier Christy Clark went on the offensive during Friday morning's election radio debate, relentlessly pressing NDP leader Adrian Dix on his decision to oppose an expansion of Kinder Morgan's pipeline between Alberta and Burnaby. "For Mr. Dix it's a different position every day depending on what the polls and the politics tell him to do," Clark said. "You conceal your position on Kinder Morgan for months, you conceal your platform and what you want to do on the issues that matter to British Columbians for months." "If you're concealing those things from us, what else are you concealing from us?" Dix responded that he made a clear pronouncement Monday on the Kinder Morgan pipeline. View full Vancouver Sun article. 

BC First Nation Threatens Mine Shutdown over Lack of Jobs
A small band in central British Columbia is threatening to shut down a big copper mine because the rapidly expanding operation does not employ anyone from the Wet’suwet’en First Nation. “The Wet’suwet’en chief and council were instructed by their members to take whatever action is necessary, including direct action and legal action, to stop further mine expansion,” a statement by the band said. View full article posted in the Globe and Mail.

Family and Children News:

Family Law Website Publishes New Fact Sheets
The Legal Services Society of BC’s Family Law website recently published three pages concerning Family Law Act protection orders, abuse, and parenting agreements or orders that are not followed. 

JP Boyd: Adapting Joyce and Horn Models for Divorce Act and Family Law Act
Under the regime just past, the overlapping concepts of custody under the Divorce Act and custody and guardianship under the Family Relations Act allowed us to think of custody as a somewhat empty concept, largely valued by our clients for the perception of power and control it implied, and guardianship as the repository of the real nuts and bolts of parenting. As joint custody became increasingly prevalent, guardianship often became the flash point for conflict among our clients and we typically managed that conflict in one of two ways, by defining the rights and obligations involved in joint guardianship or by dividing the various aspects of parenting into separate spheres of authority exercised by each client. The former solution was often more practical, and resulted in the creation of the widely used Joyce and Horn models of joint guardianship as well as the Pothecary and Charleton models of joint guardianship.

The regime adopted by the Family Law Act robs us of the convenient, but likely legally incorrect, distinctions we drew between the rights involved in custody and those involved in guardianship; guardianship under the new act is certainly not synonymous with guardianship under the old act. View the full article by JP Boyd  posted on The Stream. 

Forestry Service Providers Protection Act
(Article Posted by Davis LLP)
Following up on [the] bulletin of May 2010, the government brought into force the remaining provisions of the Forestry Service Providers Protection Act (“FSPPA” or “Act”) on April 1, 2013. These, together with amendments to the Personal Property Security Act (“PPSA”) that came into force March 25, 2013 make the FSPPA functional as of April 1, 2013. Section references herein are to the FSPPA. The Act is of interest to contractors, subcontractors, timber owners and lenders in the forest industry.

The Act does three things for those who provide services to the forest industry in BC:

• it creates lien rights over forest products in favour of contractors in the forest industry;
• it establishes charges in favour of both contractors and subcontractors over accounts receivable of the person they contracted with for unpaid amounts under the contracts or subcontracts;
• it enables the creation of a trust fund to assist contractors (“Forestry Service Providers”) who are victims in the insolvency of persons to whom they have provided services.

Major BC Projects Make Up One in Three Federal Agency Reviews
BC's resource sector is moving at such a fast pace that one in three federal environmental reviews in Canada is taking place in this province. Lisa Walls, director of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for the BC/Yukon region, said that before passage of the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in 2012, Ottawa was involved in 512 environmental reviews in BC. That number dropped to just 12 with the legislation, which Ottawa said was designed to limit its involvement to major projects and avoid duplication with provincial reviews. Since then, the number of BC projects has climbed to 28, said Walls, attending the BC Wildlife Federation annual convention in Richmond on Saturday. That represents "about a third of the projects undergoing federal environmental assessment in Canada," she said, confirming "there is so much major resource activity in BC right now." View the full Vancouver Sun article.

Forestry Workers Suddenly Back in Demand as Average Pay Rises 11%
After years of toiling in an industry plagued with layoffs and bankruptcies, the beleaguered forestry worker may finally be catching a break, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada. The average weekly paycheque for an employee in the forestry, logging and support industry rose by 11% to $1,054.68 in February 2013, compared to a year earlier, according to data released on Thursday. The increase was far and away the biggest of any sector in the Canadian economy and the latest sign of the “supercycle” that the Canadian forestry industry is enjoying. A big part of this is thanks to a strong rebound in the U.S. housing market, analysts and industry leaders say. View full article in Financial Post. 

Health Care Latest Battleground for BC Liberals and NDP
Liberal Leader Christy Clark posed for cameras in an excavator breaking ground for a new hospital on Vancouver Island and New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix shook hands at a seniors activity centre in Vancouver, as health care became the latest battleground in the British Columbia election campaign. Dix promised $238 million over three years for seniors, children with mental health issues and rural health services in an effort to relieve pressure on the province's health care system. The money pales in comparison to the $16.5 billion the province has budgeted for health care this year, but Dix said Tuesday the focus on primary and community care is the future of health care. View CTV article.

Licensed Practical Nurses Now Part of New Bargaining Structure
Government has enacted legislation allowing licensed practical nurses to be in the same bargaining structure as registered nurses, Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid announced today. “Our government respects the wishes of licensed practical nurses who democratically decided they wanted to be represented by the BC Nurses Union, which already represents registered nurses in the province,” said MacDiarmid. “This change will allow nurses to work collectively within the same bargaining framework, and provide greater opportunities for collaboration and integration within the health system.” The Health Authorities Amendment Act was introduced on March 4 and received royal assent on March 14. Consultations with a variety of stakeholders, including health employers and union groups, were held following royal assent. Read full government news release. 

British Lord Pushes Bill for Unproven Treatments
after Cancer Death of Wife, Irish Novelist
After the bestselling Irish novelist Josephine Hart died from ovarian cancer in 2011, her husband was so devastated he often went to her grave to have breakfast. And even now, Lord Maurice Saatchi describes his wife's cancer treatment as "medieval." A member of Parliament, he's proposing a bill that would allow doctors to use experimental therapies even if there is no proof they work. Hart and Saatchi were an oft-photographed celebrity couple in Britain more than a decade ago. She produced plays in London's West End and hosted poetry readings featuring actors including Ralph Fiennes and Roger Moore. Her 1991 novel "Damage" was turned into a film starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche. Saatchi, an advertising executive who sits in the House of Lords, acknowledges his bill was driven by grief at his wife's death. After a diagnosis in 2009 that her cancer was too advanced for surgery, Hart got chemotherapy and radiation, which Saatchi calls "degrading and ineffective." Though ovarian cancer is one of the hardest to catch and treat early, Saatchi says Britain's current law is a serious barrier to new treatments. Theoretically, doctors can be prosecuted if they try something that deviates from standard practice. His bill is aimed at encouraging new therapies by allowing doctors to try them, including those lacking evidence of effectiveness. The decision would have to be made by several medical experts in different fields and doctors would need to tell their supervisors in advance as well as inform the patient of any opposing medical opinions. Read more. 

Worksafe BC Approves New Workplace Bullying Policies
WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors has just published three new Occupational Health and Safety policies concerning workplace bullying and harassment. The following new policies take effect on November 1, 2013:

• Employer Duties – Workplace Bullying and Harassment – D3-115-2;
• Worker Duties – Workplace Bullying and Harassment – D3-116-1; and
• Supervisor Duties – Workplace Bullying and Harassment – D3-117-2.

Miscellaneous News:

BC Brings New Justice Reform Act into Force
The BC government is bringing sections of the Justice Reform and Transparency Act into force on April 11, 2013. The new act is an integral part of the BC government's action plan to modernize the justice system by creating a new structure for planning and reporting in the justice system. The act provides for a Justice and Public Safety Council that's responsible for setting strategic vision for the justice system, producing an annual justice and public safety plan for the province, and reporting publicly on system performance. Members of the council are appointed by the Minister of Justice and will be announced shortly. The act requires the Minister of Justice to hold an annual justice summit to allow for information-sharing, and encourage innovation and collaboration across the sector. The first justice summit was held on March 16, 2013, and future summits will continue to be a forum where justice system leaders can have frank and productive dialogue about how the system is performing and how it can be improved. The act also gives the Minister of Justice authority to establish advisory boards on matters related to justice and public safety. When established, those boards, along with the council and the justice summit, will provide valuable guidance on measures that can improve access to justice, transparency and accountability in a way that meets the public interest in a modern, efficient justice system. View government news story. 

Vancouver Master's Chambers Scheduling Changes –
Foreclosure Applications – May 27, 2013
Chief Justice Bauman announced changes to the scheduling of foreclosure applications in Vancouver Masters Chambers. Effective May 27, 2013, non-urgent foreclosure matters will only be scheduled in Masters Chambers in Vancouver on Mondays and Thursdays. Urgent applications can continue to be scheduled as needed. The purpose of the scheduling change is to reduce the wait time for counsel and litigants appearing on family and other civil applications and ensure that these applications get heard. The impact of the scheduling changes will be assessed and a decision will be made about whether or not to continue and/or expand the scheduling change to other registries. Details about the scheduling changes are available here.  Source: Supreme Court of British Columbia

"Untruthful" Description of Collision Undermines Personal Injury Lawsuit
If an injured plaintiff inaccurately describes the forces of a collision to physicians that can work to undermine the foundation of subsequent medico-legal reports and strike at the foundation of a personal injury claim. Reasons for judgment were released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, demonstrating such a result. In this week’s case (Warren v. Morgan), the Plaintiff was involved in two collisions in 2008. She sued for damages and proceeded to trial which took 22 days. The Court found that the first collision caused “no damage” to the Plaintiff and dismissed the claim. The second claim allegedly caused profound injury, including long-term problems stemming from both psychiatric and organic injuries. The Court largely rejected the Plaintiff’s claim and dismissed most of the claimed damages. View the full article by Erik Magraken on the BC Injury Law Blog. 

Property and Real Estate News:

Strata Collections: What You Need to Know Starting June 1, 2013
When dealing with most legal issues in strata corporations, the first place to look for guidance is the Strata Property Act. However, other legislation can have a significant impact on the business of strata corporations. The Limitation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 266 (the "Current LA") sets out the limitation period, which is the time period that an individual, including a strata corporation, has to file a civil claim. Under the Current LA, different causes of action or types of lawsuits have different limitation periods, which are generally two, six or ten years. The limitation period begins to run on the date on which the person has the right to bring an action. In certain circumstances, the start of the limitation period can be postponed. In an effort to "standardize" limitation periods across Canada, the Current LA is being replaced with the Limitation Act, S.B.C. 2012, c. 13 (the "New LA") effective June 1, 2013. Read the full article by Veronica Franco with Clark Wilson LLP.

What Comes After The Depreciation Report? (Strata Property Act)
At a recent seminar hosted by VISOA, Jamie A. Bleay, with Access Law Group did a presentation concerning issues that can arise after a depreciation report. Jamie’s presentation can be viewed on the VISOA website.

BC Political Parties Quiet on Strata Legislation Reform
Sandy Wagner doesn’t feel it was a snub. At least not yet. On April 10, she wrote the leaders of the four major BC parties competing in the May 14 election. As president of the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association, she wants to know one thing on behalf of her members: how will they fix strata legislation? As of early afternoon April 23, only BC Liberal premier Christy Clark had bothered to respond. “If reelected,” the premier pledged, “today’s BC Liberals will continue working with the public and strata organizations to improve legislation governing strata properties in BC.” On that day, Wagner had yet to hear from Adrian Dix of the BC NDP, the Green party’s Jane Sterk, and BC Conservative Leader John Cummins. She admitted that she’s “very surprised” by this. “We’ve had ongoing dialogues with the NDP and with the Conservatives,” Wagner told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. “To be perfectly honest, we’ve not approached the Greens before this. And we have tried to approach the Liberals and we’ve not been able to meet with Ms. Clark. But we’ve met with some of the other people.” Read more. 

No Trespassers Allowed
The act of “trespassing” is often conceptualized as one person setting foot on another person’s land without their consent. “Get off my property, you’re TRESPASSING!” is a common phrase landowners employ when faced with uninvited guests. At law, the term “trespass” encompasses much more than individuals creeping onto their neighbor’s property without permission. In fact, a landowner’s right to be free from intrusions (be it people or objects) extends to both the air above and the ground below their land. This legal principle stems from the latin maxim, “cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos”, which roughly translated means: for whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to heaven and down to hell. This communiqué examines the concept of trespass beneath land, and a landowner’s recourse when faced with such an event. Read the full article by Samina Thind with Miller Thomson LLP.

Wills and Estates News:

He Left US$40-Million, to No One
When Roman Blum died last year at age 97, his body lingered in the Staten Island University Hospital morgue for four days, until a rabbi at the hospital was able to track down his lawyer. Mr. Blum, a Holocaust survivor and real estate developer, left behind no heirs and no surviving family members – his former wife died in 1992 and the couple was childless. His funeral, held graveside at the New Montefiore Jewish Cemetery in West Babylon, N.Y., was attended by a small number of mourners, most of them elderly fellow survivors or children of survivors. Read Financial Post article.