In this May 14, 2019 decision, the owners of strata units in a hotel in Whistler and their real estate management companies commenced a judicial review challenging the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s (the “RMOW”) amendments to its Zoning and Business Licensing Bylaws as well as a s. 219 covenant registered on title to the strata lands in favour of the RMOW (the “Rental Pool Covenant”)…
Articles & Publications
Article, Staff | May 17, 2019 |
Social Procurement: From Origin to Implementation
For anyone involved with purchasing within a local government organization, talk of social procurement has unlikely gone unheard. It is a growing topic of discussion and interest, and we are seeing more and more communities embracing it and organizations taking steps to implement it into their purchasing policies. This article touches on the evolution of procurement that has led to the introduction of social impact purchasing, and discusses the approach that local governments may take to establish the practice within their own organization…
Article, Staff | April 15, 2019 |
Contract Negotiation and Performance – The Operating Principle of “Good Faith”
The obligation to either negotiate or perform in “good faith” is found in many commercial agreements. While these are “big picture” concepts, they can have very real implications when a dispute arises. In recent years, the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice have issued judgments that provide guidance on what commercial behavior Canada’s common law courts may, or may not, find acceptable…
Article, Staff | April 14, 2019 |
Emergency Preparedness: Plan, Prepare & Practice
Like other jurisdictions across the country, British Columbia is at risk for numerous emergencies and disasters, including flooding, forest fires, severe water shortages, tsunamis, storm surges, landslides, avalanches, power outages, hazardous material spills and disease outbreaks. While emergency planning and response is a shared responsibility across all levels of government, citizens largely depend on and expect local governments to provide effective, coordinated response in local emergency situations…
Article, Staff | March 15, 2019 |
Can the SNC Lavalin Controversy Inform Local Governments?
If you are like me, you may have been following with interest the SNC Lavalin story. At the centre of the controversy is a legal issue that is often difficult to discern amongst the partisan rhetoric that usually accompanies political discourse…
Article, Staff | January 29, 2019 |
Wu v. Vancouver (City), 2019 BCCA 23
The release of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Wu v. Vancouver (City) has been highly anticipated by municipal lawyers. If denied, the appeal would have established a duty for municipal officials to make decisions on development permits within a reasonable time. The trial judge found that…
Article, Staff | October 26, 2018 |
Cannabis Producer Challenges Municipal Land-Use Regulation, and Wins
The matter of 0826239 B.C. Ltd. v. Richmond (City), 2018 BCSC 1438 (CanLII) involved a business owner planning to operate an agricultural greenhouse facility within the City of Richmond and seeking building permits from the City to construct the greenhouses for the operation. The dispute is seeded in lands that are part of the Agricultural Land Reserve (“ALR“). The issue before the court was whether the City…
Article, Staff | October 24, 2018 |
BC Supreme Court Reaffirms the Broad Discretionary Nature of the DVP Approval Process
The BC Supreme Court, in 1139652 B.C. Ltd. v. Whistler (Resort Municipality), 2018 BCSC 1806, recently reaffirmed the discretionary nature of the development variance permit (DVP) approval process under the Local Government Act (LGA) and the broad range of factors that may be considered by a local government council in considering an application. While there is …
Article, Staff | March 29, 2018 |
Waiver of Privilege – Client Beware
An area of law that is often considered sacrosanct is the area of legal professional privilege…
Article, Staff | December 14, 2017 |
New Building Act Provisions & Energy Step Code
Recent legislative changes have been made by the Province that impact building regulation…