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Episode 443: Hit-and-Run Insurance, Breath Test Refusals & a Police Cruiser on a Trailer

This week, we discuss a B.C. Court of Appeal decision clarifying what victims must do to identify a hit-and-run driver before claiming compensation from ICBC. We also break down a judicial review involving a roadside breath test refusal and the Immediate Roadside Prohibition system.

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Episode 443: Hit-and-Run Insurance, Breath Test Refusals & a Police Cruiser on a TrailerRead More »

Episode 443: Hit-and-Run Insurance, Breath Test Refusals & a Police Cruiser on a Trailer Read More »

Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 14

Welcome to British Columbia’s only weekly DUI law update newsletter. This newsletter contains the most cutting-edge information, the newest case law, and helpful practice tips for DUI defence in BC.

Authored by Kyla Lee, BC’s Impaired Driving Update is released weekly on Thursdays.

What’s inside:

  • Impaired Driving Defence Tip
  • IRP Decision of the Week
  • DUI Decision of the Week
  • Kyla’s Insight
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Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 14Read More »

Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 14 Read More »

Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 388

This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Crypto Criminals, Poop Avengers, and the World’s Most Expensive Photograph

Welcome back to Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, where the legal news is stranger than fiction and the criminals are somehow getting dumber yet more ambitious and successful at the same time. This week, we are going full crypto. Not because cryptocurrency is inherently weird (though let’s be honest, it kind of is) but because the people using it apparently never got the memo that “anonymous” does not mean “unstoppable.”

Buckle up.

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Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 388Read More »

Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 388 Read More »

My Face is Not a Public Commodity – Clearview AI Loses Legal Challenge

In a digital world where we share photos of our lives daily, a recent landmark court decision in British Columbia has just set a huge legal boundary: just because your photo is online doesn’t mean it’s public property for any company to use.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal recently delivered its judgment in Clearview AI Inc. v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), a case with massive implications for our digital privacy.

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My Face is Not a Public Commodity – Clearview AI Loses Legal ChallengeRead More »

My Face is Not a Public Commodity – Clearview AI Loses Legal Challenge Read More »

Foreign Buyer’s Tax: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!

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 case involving British Columbia’s foreign buyers tax. The province imposed an additional property transfer tax on foreign purchasers in response to the housing crisis, with the goal of prioritizing housing for Canadian residents. The challenge arose when a noncitizen incorporated a Canadian company to purchase property, arguing that because a corporation is a legal person and the company was Canadian, the foreign buyers tax should not apply. The Court of Appeal rejected that argument and upheld the application of the tax. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the appeal.

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Foreign Buyer’s Tax: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!Read More »

Foreign Buyer’s Tax: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! Read More »

Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 13

Welcome to British Columbia’s only weekly DUI law update newsletter. This newsletter contains the most cutting-edge information, the newest case law, and helpful practice tips for DUI defence in BC.

Authored by Kyla Lee, BC’s Impaired Driving Update is released weekly on Thursdays.

What’s inside:

  • Impaired Driving Defence Tip
  • IRP Decision of the Week
  • DUI Decision of the Week
  • Kyla’s Insight
…

Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 13Read More »

Impaired Driving Update – BC Edition: Volume 13 Read More »

Episode 442: VPD Training Changes, Traffic Court Appeal & Motorcycle “Reasonable Excuse” Case

This week, we discuss Vancouver’s plan to create its own in-house police training academy, examine a traffic court appeal involving distracted driving and cross-examination fairness, and analyze an Alberta motorcycle case where the rider claimed he couldn’t hear police sirens because he modified his exhaust.

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Episode 442: VPD Training Changes, Traffic Court Appeal & Motorcycle “Reasonable Excuse” CaseRead More »

Episode 442: VPD Training Changes, Traffic Court Appeal & Motorcycle “Reasonable Excuse” Case Read More »

Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 387

This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Garbage Cans, Gulf States, and the Art of the Great Escape

Justice is blind. Or so we are told. But it’s also surprisingly good at sniffing people out of trash cans. Welcome back to Weird and Wacky Wednesdays. This week’s edition is dedicated to those bold and frankly delusional souls who looked the long arm of the law in the eye and said, “No thank you, I’ll be leaving now.”

Spoiler: they mostly didn’t get far.

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Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 387Read More »

Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume 387 Read More »

When “Interference” Turns on Someone Else’s Irritation: The Cautionary Tale in R. v. Leippi

In R. v. Leippi, 2026 BCPC 26, the BC Provincial Court convicted a recreational drone operator of “interfering with fire control” under the Wildfire Act.

The case arose from the 2023 Kelowna wildfire. Mr. Leippi was operating a small drone from a boat on Okanagan Lake to capture footage of fire damage. A helicopter pilot who was bucketing water for wildfire suppression noticed the drone, became irritated by its presence, and briefly attempted to knock it out of the air with water before moving on. Conservation officers saw this and then seized the drone and charged Mr. Leippi.

At trial, the only question was whether Mr. Leippi’s operation of the drone “interfered” with fire control. The court concluded that it did.

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When “Interference” Turns on Someone Else’s Irritation: The Cautionary Tale in R. v. LeippiRead More »

When “Interference” Turns on Someone Else’s Irritation: The Cautionary Tale in R. v. Leippi Read More »

Prior Testimony: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!

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 case about the admission of prior testimony and out of court statements when a witness is unavailable at trial. At a preliminary inquiry, parties have the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, and a transcript of that evidence is created. In certain circumstances, that prior testimony can later be admitted at trial under the principled exception to the hearsay rule, on the basis that it is both necessary and sufficiently reliable. In this case, the preliminary inquiry transcript was admitted, but a separate police interview given by the same unavailable witness was excluded. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the appeal.

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Prior Testimony: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!Read More »

Prior Testimony: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! Read More »

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