Blog

There has been a great deal of discussion about the British Columbia Cannabis Act, but there has not been a solid breakdown of all of the offences under the Act. In an effort to provide a helpful guide, this post summarizes all the offences laid out in the Cannabis Act.

What is particularly interesting about the penalties in the Cannabis Act, is that many of the offences for possession, production, and distribution mimic those in the proposed federal regulations. This would mean that police have the opportunity to charge individuals under the provincial law or the federal law.

In Episode Six of Driving Law with Kyla Lee, I sit down with Ian Tootill, founder of SenseBC to discuss traffic safety laws in British Columbia. Ian shares important insight into problems with our speeding, electronic device, and left lane laws. He also offers some insight into the Driver Penalty Point program, and how that could be overhauled to create a more sensible system of keeping track of bad drivers.

But before that, I talk about the Senate of Canada’s vote to remove the random breath testing provisions from Bill C-46, and why that is an important step toward ensuring the constitutional validity of the bill.

Subscribe on iTunes or listen here on Soundcloud.

The law is a funny thing. It applies in all sorts of really interesting scenarios, and much of it seems rather straightforward. But sometimes the law can be weird and wacky. Sometimes the law can apply in strange circumstances that do not make much sense at all. Or, the particular facts of a case and be so unusual that they will make you laugh. Or cry. Or both.

For that reason, I’ve started a new weekly blog series called Weird and Wacky Wednesdays. In this series, I will do a roundup of a few cases that are weird, wacky, or otherwise strange and interesting. My hope is to provide a quick summary of the case and a discussion about some interesting legal issues that arise in the case.

So here we go with Round One!

On Episode Five of Driving Law with Kyla Lee I sat down with Paul Doroshenko from Acumen Law Corporation. We talked about the changes to ICBC’s Driver Risk Premium, which will increase premiums for drivers who are convicted of any high risk offences. And in the second half of the episode, I spoke with Acumen’s Agnes Tong about how DUI convictions will impact your ability to enter Canada or remain in Canada as a visitor or Permanent Resident.

You can listen here, subscribe on iTunes, and tune in next week for another episode.

In last week’s episode of Driving Law with Kyla Lee, I sat down with Roy Ho of Acumen Law Corporation to talk about ICBC and insurance breach investigations. In particular, Roy and I discussed how your insurance is affected by impaired driving charges and how ICBC will breach insurance coverage after an impaired driving incident. For anyone affected by an impaired driving case involving an accident, this episode is a must-listen to know whether ICBC will provide coverage in a DUI accident.

In the second half of the episode, Roy and I also discuss the changes to British Columbia’s Insurance Vehicle Act and coverage for minor injury claims.

.

On the third episode of Driving Law with Kyla Lee, I talk to Grant Gotgettreu, a former West Vancouver Police Department Corporal and Integrated Road Safety Unit Corporal about speed estimation, and speed measurement using laser and radar. Grant is known for his history of laser and radar speed enforcement and his unbeaten record of issuing excessive speeding tickets. We also play a hilarious, albeit vulgar, recording of Grant interacting with one particularly unimpressed driver whose car is being impounded. (Free legal advice: don’t do that.)

In the second half of the episode, I speak with Paul Doroshenko also of Acumen Law Corporation about the changes to the alcohol-impaired driving laws being quietly added in with the marijuana amendments.

Listen here!

Episode two of the Driving Law with Kyla Lee podcast is here. On this episode, I speak with former British Columbia Solicitor General and West Vancouver Police Department Chief of Police Kash Heed about impaired driving investigations, how we got the Immediate Roadside Prohibition scheme, and the pitfalls of rewarding police for issuing driving prohibitions.

You can find the podcast on SoundCloud at this link.