The British Columbia provincial government tabled a series of significant amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “Act”) that received royal assent on November 25, 2021 and which were intended to update this legislation to keep pace with technological and structural changes in the ways that public bodies in the province interact with and handle information.
Reasons in West Kelowna (City) v. The Owners, Strata Plan EPS2459 2022 BCSC 1020 were published by the British Columbia Supreme Court today in which the City of Kelowna was successful in obtaining an interlocutory injunction against a strata corporation that had erected gates with no trespass signage on a public walkway next to Lake Okanagan.
On November 3, 2021, Bill 26 received third reading by B.C.’s legislature and portions of Bill 26 relating to public hearings and delegating to staff the authority to issue development variance permits came into force on November 25, 2021. By an Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council dated January 31, 2022, most of the remaining amendments in Bill 26 became law on February 28, 2022.
Typical construction contracts contain various provisions with respect to the contractor providing notice relating to time and/or price, for example, events or circumstances surrounding potential losses or claims for realized losses. The purposes of the provisions are to minimize such losses as much as practicably possible. Notice provisions are applicable to sub-contractors as well, depending on the language included in their respective contracts. Such provisions usually require that the provision of notice is the first necessary step in order to make a claim.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection February 2022 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
As of Wednesday, November 17, the Province of British Columbia has moved forward in introducing further legislation regarding Indigenous rights. In an effort to uphold its commitment to reconciliation and its implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (‘UNDRIP’), the Province introduced two bills concerning Indigenous peoples.
North Cowichan (Municipality) v. 1909988 Ontario Limited, 2021 BCCA 414
A recent case from the B.C. Court of Appeal has reversed the previous B.C. Supreme Court decision in 1909988 Ontario Limited v. North Cowichan (Municipality), 2020 BCSC 1666. We previously provided a summary of the trial decision, which can be found here.
On October 21, 2021, in Nelson (City) v. Marchi, the Supreme Court of Canada has lifted the fog in an attempt to provide clarity over the differences between the core policy decisions, which are immune from liability in negligence, and operational decisions, which are reviewable by the courts on a reasonableness standard.
Court of Appeal Upholds Metro Vancouver’s Notice to End Tenancy Following a Change From “Residential Use” to “Non-Residential Use”
The Metro Vancouver Regional District is the owner of the Belcarra Regional Park located in Belcarra and Port Moody. Metro Vancouver leases a portion of park, including seven cabins and other structures to the Belcarra South Preservation Society. The cabins are used for residential purposes, with most of the residents being directors of the Society. The lease between Metro Vancouver and the Tenant is a one-year fixed term tenancy that began on March 1, 2006 and converted to a month-to-month tenancy on March 1, 2007.
Under the Residential Tenancy Act property owners are permitted to evict tenants where they perform renovations to their property. However, with limited affordable housing available, evictions of tenants under the guise of performing renovations on units and then significantly increasing the rent on those units, commonly known as “renovictions”, pose an additional barrier for tenants to secure housing. To address this concern, the City of New Westminster amended its Business Regulations and Licensing (Rental Units) Bylaw, to regulate such renovictions, which has recently been upheld by the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
The summer of 2021 has seen unprecedented flooding, wildfires, heat waves, heavy rainfall, and other alarming weather-related events. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released its latest report (the “Report”) which confirms that much of the devastating weather events we have experienced this summer are the result of human-caused climate change.