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 …
Articles & Publications
Publication, Staff | October 23, 2018 |
A Battle of Priorities – Municipal property taxes and court orders in insolvency proceedings
Revenue from taxes on land and improvements are the life blood of municipal services. As such, it is not surprising that each of Canada’s provinces and territories have enacted legislation to authorize not only the imposition and collection of such “property taxes,” but also to secure their collection. While there are some differences in the statutory language between jurisdictions, the various provincial and territorial statutes dealing with municipal and…
Publication, Staff | June 26, 2018 |
The Climate is Changing, Are We?
As published in Roadrunner Summer 2018:
The provincial and federal governments, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) have officially stated that climate change is having an impact on local governments and their infrastructure due to increased extreme weather events and a rise in sea levels. The legal liability risks of climate change impacts include potential negligence claims, nuisance claims and regulatory liability…
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…
Article, Staff | June 30, 2017 |
Case Review: Maglio Installations v. Castlegar
The plaintiff, Maglio was one of several bidders to the City’s invitation to tender for the construction of three public pools…
Article, Staff | May 13, 2017 |
Seeing the Forest From the Trees: Opportunities for Harvesting Carbon Assets
British Columbians are well acquainted with their province’s economic reliance on the forest industry as an economic resource. Less commonly known and understood is forest carbon sequestration – the use of the forests for the carbon resource they hold – a resource that can be utilized without harvesting the timber. For this article, we focus on the potential use by community forest operations of the forest carbon assets from which carbon offsets can be generated and sold…
Article, Staff | May 13, 2017 |
Sustainable Service Delivery Through Asset Management and Contract Administration
In 2016, the most recent Canadian Infrastructure Report Card (CIRC) was released regarding the health of Canada’s infrastructure, and the results were troubling. In its assessment of Canada’s roads and bridges, public transit, buildings, sport and recreation facilities, stormwater, wastewater and potable water infrastructure, the report concluded that one-third of municipal infrastructure was ranked in fair, poor or very poor condition…
Article, Staff | June 13, 2016 |
When FOIPPA Meets Tendering, Bids and the Disgruntled Bidder
Procurement processes can range from the routine purchase of office supplies to the occasional tender for a high value capital project. Along this spectrum, your organization is likely to have its own practices and procedures for conducting the process, such as those for documentation, communication, evaluation, vendor selection and notification. In addition to the legal implications that tendering and contract law may have on your process, such as the duty to be fair, open and transparent in the case of tendering, local government owners must remain mindful of their legal obligations for disclosure and protection of information under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA)…
Article, Staff | June 13, 2016 |
Dealing with Contaminated Lands: Lessons Learned
Whether a local government is buying, selling or regulating the development of land, environmental issues often play a significant role. Over the last few decades, the identification and allocation of environmental risk has become increasingly detailed and sophisticated, making an understanding of BC’s Environmental Management
Act (EMA) and Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR) critical…