More and more Vancouver residents are struggling to find parking.
“…If you were to leave debris or something like an overturned bucket or a pylon on the roadway to try to reserve your spot, in theory you could be prosecuted, you could get a ticket for littering… so don’t do that because you could be exposed to liability…
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“…the idea that somebody would be pretending to be a nurse and potentially putting a patient at risk is a terrifying thought… Impersonating a healthcare professional can lead to a number of charges, most significantly fraud. But if somebody was to get grossly injured or die as a result, then they could also face consequences and charges for criminal negligence.”
Kyla Lee, a Vancouver criminal lawyer for Acumen Law Corporation, and Mo Amir, host of the podcast This is VANCOLOUR, weigh in on the rollout of Vancouver’s housing plan, the NHL’s ban on Pride stick tape, and guess what each other likes to watch when they’re sick.
“I don’t see anything bold, or new. I don’t see anything that I’m excited about. I just see the same old stuff and a bunch of promises to promise… On one hand we absolutely want density around transportation hubs… But I also wonder what happens around those sky train stations to the small businesses? Their rents are going to go up significantly from where they are, and we’re going to push a lot of the character out of the city. I wish that the plan had a mechanism to protect all that character while still creating density where density needs to be created.”
Statistics Canada released a report highlighting the differences in treatment of homicide cases where Indigenous women and girls were the victims. The data in the report covered 2009 to 2021 showed that first-degree murder charges, the most severe homicide charge, were only applied to 27% of the cases when the victim was an Indigenous female compared to 55% when they were non-Indigenous females.
…“I’m not surprised at the decision. It is disappointing in particular in this case because of who the victims involved were – vulnerable Indigenous youths… When Indigenous people are the victims of crime, the sentences tend to be a lot lower than they would be and the amount of time somebody spends in incarceration tends to be a lot shorter than it would be if the victim were not Indigenous.”
Mo Amir and Kyla Lee speak with Gloria Macarenko about Bruce Banman’s comments around some children’s literature.
“…the whole purpose of school is to prepare students for the real world and to help people understand and encounter and learn how to deal with real world scenarios like bullying. That doesn’t take place in the legislature because we have expectations on adults that we don’t have on children…”
“Police can pull you over at any point for the purposes of checking that your vehicle complies with the provisions of the MVA and the MVA regulations… The fine isn’t huge but it’s money you don’t want to be spending with the holidays coming up.”
Kyla Lee on Radio NL News Mornings with Jeff & Bill: Winter Tire Requirements Read More »
Mo Amir, host of the podcast This is VANCOLOUR, and Kyla Lee, a Vancouver criminal lawyer for Acumen Law Corporation, weigh in on B.C.’s latest five-year net new housing targets, the growing profile of the Conservative Party of B.C., and a B.C. poll that found swearing is becoming more common in the workplace.
“The provincial government is going to step in and it’s going to force municipalities to build these units, but it should also be working with municipalities to reduce the amount of red tape… The ability to get a permit to do anything and the number of permits you have to get for any type of project is so overwhelming and cost prohibitive.”
…“In Canada, if you are responsible for the death of a police officer while they are in the act of duty, then that is automatically a first-degree murder charge… “
“I think this is something that may spur change. Particularly in the past week, the federal government passed a bill to the Senate regarding changes to our bail. This is just going to further ignite the very polarizing discussion we’re having across the country right now about potential repeat offenders, violent offenders… Incidents like this are only going to fuel that conversation further.”
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma is promising more money to fix a chronic shortage of sheriffs that has led to at least 86 court appearances being cancelled or delayed this year.
Sharma says the government is responding to an internal report that painted a damning picture of working conditions, including bullying and sexual harassment, for the people who transport prisoners and protect British Columbia’s courts.
That report found a years-old recruitment and retention crisis within the BC Sheriffs Service, problems it attributed to low pay, a toxic work environment and ineffective management.
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In some cases, court appearances have been delayed, cancelled or moved because a sheriff was not available. The ministry’s office said there had been 86 such incidents this year as of Sept. 7; there were none in 2021 or 2022.
Kyla Lee, a criminal defence lawyer in Vancouver with Acumen Law, says she has had multiple cases where a trial was delayed because a sheriff was not available. She said such delays had a “snowball effect” because they lead to further delays in the court system as matters are re-scheduled.
“It’s really caused a lot of chaos for people. The experience of going to court is very stressful for people as it is,” Lee said.
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But Lee believes sheriffs are still not paid enough. Sheriffs, she said, often protect judges when there are credible threats to their safety. They are armed and also transport accused persons in custody, she said, who include violent offenders and people with complex mental health and substance issues.
“They have to be mental health professionals. They have to be physical security. They have to be drug addiction and medical experts all at the same time in different courts,” Lee said.
The government’s information sheet for applicants notes sheriffs deal with “with unpleasant, upset, hostile, angry and potentially violent clients.”
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