In The News

Criminal lawyers Kyla Lee of Vancouver and William Jaksa of Toronto say that while a man’s verbal assault on Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in Alberta last week doesn’t meet the legal definition of uttering threats, he could be open to charges of harassment and causing a disturbance.

“From a legal perspective, I don’t see the behaviour as being threatening within the criminal definition… From a personal perspective and as a woman who’s also public-facing, I could easily see how somebody would feel threatened in that situation and what the law should do, is it should protect people who feel threatened in situations like that and not protect people from these incidents that are on the rise…”

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A B.C. provincial court judge has issued a scathing rebuke to the environmental group behind Save Old Growth protests in her recent sentencing decision for one of the protesters participating in the highway blockade demonstrations.

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“Comments like this by the courts are likely to be referred to by prosecutors in sentencing hearings going forward if people are convicted or plead guilty” – Kyla Lee

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A high-ranking B.C. RCMP officer says the legal “landscape has changed” in recent years, affecting officers’ abilities to deal with repeat and chronic offenders.

Supt. Syd Lecky made the comments in an interview with CFCJ as he ends four years as the officer in charge of the Kamloops RCMP to take a position as chief superintendent in the Northwest Territories.

“There’s limitations to the authorities that police have now,” he said.

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In the Jordan case, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that accused persons must be tried within 18 months in provincial courts and within 30 months in superior courts, while the Zora case set the precedent that the right to bail can only be infringed where holding someone in custody is the last possible resort ahead of a trial, Vancouver criminal lawyer Kyla Lee explained.

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“The charter guarantees that you are to be released on bail unless it’s absolutely necessary to keep you in custody pending the outcome of your case,” she said.

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RCMP in the Northwest Territories have begun using roadside cannabis-screening technology that has faced criticism from defence lawyers elsewhere in Canada.

Mounties in the territory announced late last month that they had deployed devices designed to take a saliva sample and test for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis. They said the technology would help them detect impaired drivers and make roads safer.
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“It can lead to people being arrested who are actually innocent,” said Kyla Lee, a lawyer based in Vancouver.

Lee said research has shown the devices may be more likely to deliver false results in extreme cold temperatures, and movement during analysis could also affect outcomes. She added that while the devices can deliver either a positive or negative test result, they do not indicate how much THC may be in a person’s bloodstream.

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According to a report from Daily Hive , an officer spotted Kaytlin Quinn holding her phone in her hand as she spoke to her brother on speakerphone during the 2.5-hour wait for the PCR test on Dec 22. She was removed from the lineup, ticketed, and allowed to return to her place in line. 

Lawyer Kyla Lee is representing Quinn pro bono, saying that the $300 ticket and potential insurance rate increase that could come with it was a disappointing decision by the officer.  

“It shocks me that an officer would have voluntarily decided to interact with somebody who might have COVID-19 and get close enough to them to get their driver’s licence, identify them, and serve them a ticket. It’s just not common sense,” she told Daily Hive, adding that she believes the ticket does not serve the spirit of B.C.’s distracted driving laws, which are designed to make roads safer. 

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Following the provincial government’s announcement that B.C. residents will need to show proof of vaccination to attend certain social events, many small businesses took to social media to announce they will not be enforcing the order.

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Kyla Lee is a Vancouver lawyer who in recent days has received many questions asking if the vaccine passport is indeed an infringement on Canadian’s Charter Rights. She took to TikTok to share her thoughts on the matter and says ultimately it’s a fair balance.

“Your Charter Rights aren’t absolute. Like at any time the government has the ability to limit your Charter rights,” Lee says. “That can include restrictions on your rights to access certain things, restrictions on your rights to go certain places, restrictions on your bodily integrity rights.”

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