In The News

“In the context of ever-increasing police budgets and weak oversight agencies, the public should be very alarmed about the further erosion of our civil liberties and human rights through the passage of C-70,” warns Meghan McDermott, policy director of the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA).

“The rapid enactment of these new laws without any kind of scrutiny is devastating for social movements in BC and across Canada,” she said in an exclusive interview last week.

The Countering Foreign Interference Act (Bill C-70) received royal assent on June 20 after being rushed through the House of Commons and then stampeded through the Senate in three days. Now that it is the law of the land, the government must bring down specific regulations and appoint a Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner.

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Kyla in Rabble: Rushed Passage of C-70: An Urgent Wake-Up CallRead More »

In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.

The province introduced the Intimate Images Protection Act earlier this year giving the Civil Resolution Tribunal the jurisdiction to address these types of claims to provide an alternative to the more difficult, lengthy and potentially costly options of trying to pursue redress through criminal or civil court.

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Today on Radio NL News Mornings with Jeff Andreas: B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-its-kind intimate image caseRead More »

Scores of Vancouverites feel the city should ease up on enforcing operating hours on beaches. But police say significant public safety challenges arise on the shores after dark. 

Operating hours for Vancouver’s parks, beaches, and gardens are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation works with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to be more “proactive about educating and enforcing the rules around operating hours” during the summer months. 

“This is in the interest of public safety as we tend to see larger gatherings of people during warmer months at our more popular beaches,” the board told V.I.A.

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Kyla in Vancouver Is Awesome: ‘It’s absolutely wild’: Locals react to people being escorted off Vancouver beachesRead More »

A handful of members of a group of property owners from across B.C., known as the West Coast Association of Property Owners, assembled outside the B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria on Monday during a break in their court case.

The group are petitioners in a court action they’ve brought against the provincial government. They’re upset because they operated legal short-term rentals—until the NDP’s new short-term rental laws came into effect last month.

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Today on Radio NL News Mornings with Jeff Andreas: Property owners take NDP government to court over new short-term rental rulesRead More »

Civil society groups say the federal government’s foreign agent registry legislation may be too vague and broad in its scope. That lack of specificity is raising concerns it may impact on solicitor-client privilege.

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Kyla in the CBA National: Foreign influence registry raises solicitor-client privilege concernsRead More »

Podcast host Mo Amir and Vancouver criminal lawyer Kyla Lee discuss the recent crisis facing B.C. United. They note that the party seems to be struggling with candidate recruitment and vetting and emphasize the need for concrete plans to address public concerns.

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Kyla on CBC Soapbox Social: What’s next for B.C. United?Read More »

B.C.’s new Legal Profession Act received royal assent and became law last month despite strong opposition from the province’s law society and bar association.

The legislation establishes a single regulatory body for lawyers, paralegals and notaries, and a new category of regulated paralegals who can handle certain legal cases on their own. The scope of notaries public will also be broadened to include more day-to-day legal matters.

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Today on Radio NL News Mornings with Jeff Andreas: The Legal Profession ActRead More »

Drivers in British Columbia now have to meet minimum distances between their vehicle and people walking or riding on the road.

“On it’s surface, this legislation is a good thing. It’s going to ostensibly reduce the number of road deaths, especially between vehicles and the most vulnerable people on the roads – motorcycles, bicycles, animals and pedestrians.”

“It’s going to be pretty much impossible to enforce… if anyone gets a ticket for this, they’re going to want to dispute it… But the officer is not going to be able to say and prove beyond a reasonable doubt…”