In The News

Marijuana vendors who return to set up shop at an illegal pot market in downtown Vancouver may be putting themselves at more risk than they think.

​In May of this year, the federal government announced a forthcoming amendment to the Criminal Code for impaired driving offences, which, in the advent of 2018’s legalization of marijuana (Bill C-45), includes a new legal limit for drug offences and mandatory drug screening. The first part of Bill C-46 adds new sections for driving under the influence of drugs, while the second part proposes reform for the entire Criminal Code transportation regime.

Supporters of the amendment believe it will reduce the number of impaired driving charges across Canada, while critics argue that it will put more impaired drivers in court, resulting in a greater burden on the justice system.

​As the provincial government casts itself as getting tough on street racers and stunt drivers one lawyer says what they are really doing is covering their legal butt.

Acumen Law’s Kyla Lee says accused drivers are subject to a process they aren’t even aware exists and don’t take part in, where a police officer’s word is god, and zero records are kept.

Starting next July Canada’s marijuana market will be very different indeed. The province answered a few of the questions around selling recreational pot on Dec. 5, including where it will be sold and to whom. But one remaining question is how to keep the roads safe and drivers sober?

Acumen lawyer Kyla Lee answers this question in her interview on CBC:

The prohibitions for street racing and stunt driving in BC have been significantly extended in an effort to combat these driving offences. At first blush, it looks like the penalties are a step in the right direction, but Vancouver lawyer Kyla Lee has some concerns.

CKNW: You wrote about this on your blog and raised many points of issues you have with this … what is your concern with what the government has announced?

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – As of December 1st tougher penalties will be imposed on dangerous drivers in BC and a local attorney says the existing system is bad but claims the incoming changes are worse.

Earlier this week the provincial government announced it was cracking down on dangerous drivers which could see those caught street racing lose their driving privileges for up to three years and not just a few days.
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On December 1, 2017, new rules came in with stiffer driving prohibitions for street racing and stunt driving. Under the rules prior to Dec.1, penalties for street racing or stunt driving could land you a 15-day penalty. But after Dec. 1, those same penalties could be increased to the range of three to 36 months. 

The NDP government says the penalties are intended for those who recklessly speed in urban areas, pointing to an example of travelling 180 km/h over the Lions Gate Bridge, which would be more than three times the speed limit in the area. 
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Scores of B.C. investors – many of them from the same church – have lost millions in an apparent Ponzi scheme. The woman they hold responsible still attends that church and as Grace Ke reports, this case is a real warning to others who may be promised unusually large returns on their investments. Grace Ke reports.
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In May, the federal government tabled Bill C-46, which would amend the Criminal Code for impaired driving offences. The proposed changes come on the eve of the government’s legalization of recreational cannabis use, and they include new “legal limit” drug offences, as well as mandatory alcohol screening.

Proponents say that mandatory alcohol screening, for one, will bring Canada into line with other Western nations that have lowered impaired driving charges using this form of screening; but the criminal defence bar cautions that aspects of the new bill may present Charter challenges and further burdens on the courts.
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