This week on Driving Law, Paul and I dive into the fallout from job action that has ground BC’s Immediate Roadside Prohibition system to a halt. Drivers are left without hearings, decisions, or even the chance to challenge their prohibitions, all while paying storage and penalty fees. We also cover a $6,000 limo bill for BC’s finance minister and Doug Ford’s about-face on traffic cameras in Ontario.
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Facing a dangerous driving charge can be an incredibly stressful and complex experience. When an incident results in tragic consequences, understanding the difference between civil and criminal liability is crucial. A recent case, R. v. Moshfeghi Zadeh, 2025 BCCA 293, from the BC Court of Appeal, helps to answer some questions about the degree to which driving must depart from the norm to be dangerous driving.
…Is Running a Red Light Dangerous Driving? Read More »
Welcome to “Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!”
In this episode, Kyla Lee from Acumen Law Corporation examines a murder trial where the accused argued that both his mental health struggles and the impact of anti-Black racism should inform his level of moral culpability. The court declined to consider these factors in the way the defence proposed, and the accused received a severe sentence. The Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal—missing an important opportunity to provide clear national guidance on how mental health and systemic racism should be evaluated in criminal trials and sentencing.
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This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee is joined by forensic consultant Jan Seminoff to talk about continuous alcohol monitoring. From ignition interlocks to ankle bracelets, more and more people are finding themselves under strict supervision programs—but not always for the reasons you’d expect. Jan shares how everyday products, medical conditions, and even static electricity can cause false positives, and why his new My CAM Program aims to prevent these cases before they spiral into jail time or custody disputes.
…Episode 420: Making Alcohol Monitoring Fair – Jan Seminoff’s “My CAM” ProgramRead More »
Episode 420: Making Alcohol Monitoring Fair – Jan Seminoff’s “My CAM” Program Read More »
British Columbia’s Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) regime arrived in the fall of 2010 with a simple pitch: get alcohol-affected drivers off the road quickly, using swift administrative penalties rather than slow criminal prosecutions.
From day one, it was sold as a life-saving public-safety tool. And it has certainly become the dominant impaired-driving response in this province. But the story of IRPs is also a story of constitutional litigation, policy pivots, and legislative patchwork that has reshaped how we handle alleged impaired driving in B.C.
…15 Years of B.C.’s IRP Scheme: How We Got Here Read More »
Two weeks into the school year, it’s worthwhile to think about ethics and schools and legal responsibility. This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, we head back to school for legal stories of students whose creative attempts to cheat turned into headline-making lessons.
…Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 367 Read More »
Welcome to “Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!”
In this episode, Kyla Lee from Acumen Law Corporation discusses a national security case involving a man convicted of terrorism-related offenses after claiming he had only pretended to join the conspiracy in order to defraud others involved. He was disbelieved and convicted—but a central issue in his trial was the heavily redacted disclosure of a national security affidavit. The accused argued that his right to full disclosure was denied. The government claimed national security privilege. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the case—missing a rare and critical opportunity to define how national security privilege should be handled in criminal trials with serious consequences.
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I’m often cynical of police methods for detecting impaired driving, but I am cynical with reliable science on my side. The legalization of cannabis brought attention to the problem of identifying people driving while impaired by cannabis. For our practice, understanding the scientific limitations of current detection methods is essential, because it directly impacts how we defend cannabis impaired driving cases.
…The Science and “Pseudoscience” of Detecting Driving Under the Influence of CannabisRead More »
The Science and “Pseudoscience” of Detecting Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis Read More »
My favorite thing on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays is cases that happened in my field of practice, that is impaired driving law. I love defending impaired driving cases. I’ve been doing it for years, and each case is different. Somehow I’m always enthusiastic about reading DUI files. Even better this week, our weird and wacky stories start with one from right here in BC. I went to the Aqua concert recently. They’re the band that sings the song “Barbie Girl”. Around the same time, there was a fellow stopped driving a Barbie Jeep. Let’s start there.
…Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 366 Read More »
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