Forest and Environment News:

New Forestry Interpretative Service — Quickscibe has teamed up with Westhaven Forestry Law to bring you a new, easy to understand interpretative summary report of recent and upcoming forestry legislation changes. Jeff Waatainen, principle of Westhaven Forestry, is a published author and columnist in the field, and a former adjunct Professor of law at UBC with over a decade of experience with the forestry practice group of a major firm in the field. Jeff will work with Quickscribe to publish the new Forestry Law Reporter. The report will be published periodically in the Quickscribe Reporter and will be made available exclusively to Quickscribe clients. For more details about this exciting initiative please view the official Announcement.

NEW: The Forestry Law Reporter, by Jeff Waatainen — Bill 8 received Royal Assent and was enacted on March 31, 2008. A handful of sections came into force immediately upon Royal Assent, and another couple of sections will come into force as of June 1, 2008. The remainder will come into force by Order in Council.

Bill 8 represents a modest package of amendments to BC’s forestry legislation, and is primarily of interest to planning and administrative foresters and forest technicians. For more details, please view the Forestry Law Reporter. The Forestry Reporter is published by Jeff Waatainen, Westhaven Forestry Law for the benefit of Quickscribe Online Clients. *Disclaimer *.

Update to Resource Road Act (Bill 30), — mentioned in last month's Reporter as being introduced in the Legislature, the bill did not go forward this session.

New forestry programs to support workers, communities — Three new programs to support forest workers and communities coping with the challenges of a changing industry were recently announced. The programs will be funded through the $129 million Community Development Trust announced last January by the federal government. Since January, the Ministry of Forests and Range, the Ministry of Economic Development, and the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services have been consulting with communities, industry and labour organizations to develop programs that will have the most immediate benefit for those impacted. See News Release.

90-day forestry regulatory review actions identified — The 90-day forestry regulatory review has identified four major steps that will enable government to immediately cut red tape to help the forest industry it was recently announced. The forestry regulatory review was established to streamline red tape and cut processing time. The next steps emerging from the forestry regulatory review are:

1. Implement initiatives that do not require legislative change or further consultation as soon as possible.
2. Consult with the forest industry in the next 30 days about additional actions that can be taken to assist the industry.
3. Consider changes to First Nations’ forest tenures.
4. Prepare legislative changes for longer-term proposals.

For more information, see News Release.

Congress passes bill that will make life even harder for ailing forestry industry — As reported in the Vancouver Sun, the U.S. Congress passed a bill recently that could wrap Canadian lumber imports in red tape and has the potential to impose limits beyond the restrictions already in the softwood lumber agreement. See Vancouver Sun News Story.

Health News:

BC Legislation catches MDs off Guard — As reported in the National Review of Medicine, earlier this year the government of British Columbia announced plans for wide-ranging healthcare reforms, setting off something akin to panic in the medical community. For the full story see News Story.

Government accepts drug plan recommendations — Government has accepted all of the recommendations from the Pharmaceutical Task Force, it was recently announced. See News Release.

Labour and Company News:

Bill on insurance reform falls off the legislative table — As reported in the Vancouver Sun, Finance Minister Carole Taylor claimed a first in provincial lawmaking this spring with the introduction of a rewrite of legislation governing the insurance industry. However, only six days later the bill was deferred for the session. See Vancouver Sun News Story.

Local Government News:

Study provides local government options for waste resource recovery — The Province has released an independent report on integrated resource management that examines approaches for local governments across British Columbia to use solid and liquid waste to create energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve water, and recover nutrients. See News Release.

Nanaimo considers online and phone voting for fall municipal elections — Nanaimo voters could vote from the comfort of home in the next civic election, or even from another city or country. City council gave staff the go-ahead to further explore giving residents the option to vote over the Internet or by telephone in November. It still needs approval from Ida Chong, B.C.’s Minister of Community Services, and final approval from council, but city staff expect Nanaimo to put on a pilot project for e-voting in the province this fall. See CHEK News Story.

Real Estate and Builders Lien News:

Strata association wants greater accountability — As reported in the Nanaimo Daily News, The Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association has released a report entitled "Beyond the Sales Pitch: Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in B.C. Strata Developments." The report describes significant deficiencies in B.C.'s legislation affecting owners of 460,000 condominiums and other strata properties, or one in four taxable properties in the province. About 67,000 of these properties are located on Vancouver Island. See News Story.