In The News

Canadians who work for, or have connections to, the cannabis industry are running into problems at the U.S. border, including lifetime travel bans.
Len Saunders, an immigration lawyer based in Blaine, Wash., says he’s received many calls from businesses who tried to travel to the U.S. and were either turned away or banned. He says that’s been accompanied by a spike in applications for waivers. 

​“It used to be that almost all my waiver connections were criminal convictions. Now I would say probably 25 per cent of my waivers, where it used to be one or two per cent, are waivers where people have run into problems because of marijuana,” he said. “When I first started practicing in Blaine 15 years ago, I’d maybe get one or two cases a year, and when they legalized it in Washington state… my cases went up to one or two a month. When Trudeau started legalizing marijuana… my cases went up to one or two a week. So it’s a huge growth industry for immigration lawyers.”

On this week’s episode of Driving Law with Kyla Lee, I speak with Paul Doroshenko of Acumen Law Corporation about how high-end vehicle sales in Vancouver may be connected to money laundering. Then, we discuss the recent case of a Burnaby RCMP officer who was struck and injured following a traffic stop for using an electronic device while driving. Finally, we talk about drug-impaired driving laws and what’s in store for constitutional challenges.

You can listen here on Soundcloud or subscribe on iTunes.

All eyes were on the passing of the Cannabis Act last week, which will make it legal to buy recreational weed in Canada on October 17. But the government also passed its impaired driving bill—one that gives police sweeping new powers and could criminalize drivers who are completely sober.
Bill C-46 creates new offences for people who drive with a certain amount of THC in their system and toughens up the rules around drinking and driving. While that may sound like a good thing—no one wants dangerous drivers on the road—experts argue several parts of the bill are unconstitutional and will trample on the rights of citizens.

Questions raised after judge acquits driver in fatal crash.
​The family of a doctor killed by a speeding driver is demanding answers after the accused was acquitted. Rumina Daya talks to some experts about what it takes to lose a licence.

Fraser Valley – Have you ever had the experience of Jury duty?
For many, it’s tedious, boring, long hours and doesn’t pay well at all.
For others, it can be an emotional wrecking ball. Testimony that could break your heart, make you seethe with anger or disgust you with stomach churning details.
A former juror who suffered serious emotional trauma after serving on a jury, had requested a policy change which has led to a comprehensive study and report by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Four young children were found left alone in a vehicle in a downtown Vancouver parkade on Wednesday afternoon.
Global BC reporter Rumina Daya was in a parkade beneath the law courts when she heard the muffled sound of a baby crying.

She followed the sound to an SUV and saw four young children — including a baby — inside the vehicle. All the kids appeared to be under the age of seven, Daya said.

There were no adults around and the door to the SUV was unlocked.​

Kyla Lee appeared on the Lynda Steele show with Mike Smyth to talk about increases to ICBC’s Driver Risk Premium for high risk offences. You can listen to the whole interview here.

The family of a motorcyclist killed in Delta are outraged that the driver behind the accident walked away with nothing more than a traffic ticket. Rumina Daya has more.

Carmen Smith had been married for just five days when her husband was killed in a crash.

“I had sympathy cards mixed with wedding cards on my mantel,” she said.

Brad Smith died when a car crossed the centre line and hit him as he was riding his motorcycle. The driver of the car was given a ticket of just over $100.

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