Energy and Mines News:

B.C. Ready To Support Ocean Power
British Columbia is preparing to make a push to become a leading proponent of ocean energy resource development, B.C. Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom said at the Globe 2010 conference in Vancouver. Lekstrom said he hopes to present the Clean Energy Act to the legislature this spring and have it passed into law in early June. "It is really a collaboration, this piece of legislation, that will bring all of our opportunities in clean energy development to the forefront. It will include most definitely ocean renewables. See the Full Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

BC Hydro Selects 19 Projects in
First Stage of Clean Power Call
After it received proposals from 43 proponents for 68 clean energy projects, BC Hydro announced the results of its 2008 Clean Power Call. In the first stage of awards, BC Hydro selected 19 projects for electricity purchase agreements (EPA's) comprising 2,450 GWh/year being less than half of the 5,000 GWh/year acquisition target it had requested from developers in the 2008 Clean Power Call. See the Full Report by Warren Brazier of Clark Wilson.

Coal, Caribou and Consultation – Court
Directs Accommodation in Treaty 8 Region
In a recent decision, the B.C. Supreme Court examined the meaning of the treaty right to hunt for caribou in the context of a proposed coal exploration program in the Treaty 8 area of northeastern B.C. The Court ordered a stay of provincial exploration permits for 90 days and ordered the Crown, in consultation with the West Moberly First Nations (West Moberly), to proceed expeditiously to put in place a reasonable, active plan for the protection and augmentation of a local caribou herd. See the Full Report by Caroline Findlay and Janice Walton at Blakes.

Copper Mountain gets Crucial Mines Permit
The Copper Mountain mine project near Princeton is poised to become British Columbia's first major new metals mine to open in more than a decade. The $438-million open-pit copper project got final approval from the B.C. mines ministry recently and is now targeting June 2011 for full production, Copper Mountain investor relations director Don Graham said in an interview. See the Full Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Family, Wills and Estates News:

Child, Family and Community Service Act Amendments
Bill 4, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, recently brought into force amendments to the Child, Family and Community Service Act. These amendments are intended to clarify that where parents have the financial ability, they remain responsible for contributing to the maintenance of their children when a child is cared for by a relative or someone with an established relationship to the child under the Extended Family Program. A similar arrangement currently applies to children in other out-of-care placements and children in care. See the News Release.

Canada Statistics Report on "Child and Youth Victims of
Police-reported Violent Crime, 2008"
This report analyzes the nature and extent of police-reported violence committed against children and youth under the age of 18. It examines differences in victimization based on sex and age of victims, type of offence, prevalence across the provinces and territories, relationship to the perpetrator, weapon used and level of injury. It also presents information on trends over time. Some of the highlights include:

• In 2008, just over 75,000 children and youth were victims of police-reported violent crime. That is, for every 100,000 children and youth in Canada, 1,111 were victims of a violent offence
• The rate of violence against children and youth under 18 tends to increase as children get older. The lowest rate of violence was reported for children under 3 years of age, after which the rate substantially increases for each subsequent age group.
• Teens aged 15 to 17 reported the highest rate of violence among all age groups.
• Physical assaults were the most common type of police-reported violence committed against children and youth with nearly 42,000 physical assaults being reported to police in 2008.

Forest and Environment News:

BC Introduces Zero Net Deforestation Act to
Encourage Carbon Storage Offsets
Bill 5 was introduced to enshrine in legislation the government's goal of zero net deforestation in BC by December 31, 2015 which would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Act defines deforestation, provides for reporting on net deforestation and allows for regulations establishing: the timing, form and content of reports and records, and a scientifically-based methodology for calculating deforestation and afforestation. See the Full Article by Angeline S.B. Nyce at Davis.

Forests And Range Statutes Amendment Act Introduced
Bill 7 introduces changes to the scaling provisions of the Forest Act to encourage utilization of low-grade timber and wood waste for bioenergy purposes. Previously only timber could be scaled, but under the changes, bioenergy products such as wood chips also can be scaled by either volume or weight. Other amendments clarify rules for redetermining stumpage rates, and clarify the mechanism to be used for partitioning allowable annual cuts. In addition, amendments to the Wildfire Act improve wildfire protection by extending the period for prosecution for human-caused fires and improving the process by which forest companies can recover costs when they support provincial wildfire suppression efforts. See the News Release.

China's Growing Appetite for Quality B.C. Wood
China's appetite for British Columbia lumber grew at a record pace in 2009 in volume and value, providing sawmillers here with a needed new market to counter stumbling American demand. Lumber exports to China hit 1.63 million board feet in 2009, more than twice the volume shipped in 2008. Those exports generated $327 million in revenues, a 70-per-cent increase over 2008. See the Full Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Water Act Amendments
Bill 4, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, recently brought into force amendments to the Water Act which provide for more reliable analysis of groundwater quality. These amendments provide efficiencies, improve effectiveness and enhance client service. See the News Release.

Modernizing the Water Act
The Ministry of Environment has embarked on the ambitious task of modernizing the provincial Water Act. Brought into force over 100 years ago, the Water Act is the principle law for managing the diversion and use of provincial water resources. To facilitate input, government has developed a discussion paper and organized a series of workshops across the province. The paper proposes options and solutions for discussion at these workshops whose primary objective is to share information, discuss principles for a new Water Act and explore proposals for change. Future workshops will be held in Smithers (April 13), Nelson (April 16), Ft St. John (April 20), and Vancouver (April 21). The closing date for submissions is April 30, 2010. See the Full article as reported by COFI.

Canada and British Columbia Sign Agreement to Address Climate Change
Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, and British Columbia's Minister of State for Climate Change, John Yap, recently signed an Agreement in Principle on efforts to address Climate Change. The federal government is working closely with provinces and territories to ensure that efforts to fight climate change reinforce one another to the greatest possible extent. See the News Release from Environment Canada.

Health News:

Amendments to Health Authorities Act and the Hospital District Act
Bill 4, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, recently brought into force amendments to the Health Authorities Act which will allow a health authority, if needed and when approved by the Minister of Health Services, to locate a facility or deliver health services within another health authority's boundaries. Approval is case-by-case. Currently, the act only allows a health authority to deliver services within its own geographic area. In addition, the Act makes amendments to the Hospital District Act that confirm that BC Assessment, rather than the Minister of Health Services, has responsibility for providing annual tax information to hospital district boards. See the News Release.

B.C. Modernizes Regulations For Sale Of Eyewear
The Province introduced a series of changes recently that will modernize the way in which British Columbians get their glasses and contact lenses, and give them more choice. The amendments will remove most restrictions on who may dispense corrective eyewear, allow independent sight-testing by opticians, require that interpupillary distance be provided in sight-tests and that opticians provide copies of sight-test results free of charge and whether or not requested, and implement the new shared scope of practice/restricted activities regulatory model for opticianry. See the News Release and the Ministry of Health Services Opticianry website for more details. In addition, see the Full Story as reported by the Times Colonist.

B.C. Joins Birth Control Class Action Lawsuit
British Columbia is the latest Canadian province to join a lawsuit against the makers of a popular birth control pill. The Merchant Law Group is launching a class action litigation on behalf of women who say they've suffered medical problems while using Yaz or Yasmin, what's referred to as a "fourth generation" progestin hormonal pill. See the Full Story as reported by CTV News.

Labour and Company News:

B.C. Employers Hit With $4.5 Million In Penalties
For Health And Safety Violations
WorkSafeBC imposed record penalties of $4.5 million against employers last year for violations of workplace health and safety regulations. "Employers must take seriously their responsibility to ensure their workplace is healthy and safe for all workers," Roberta Ellis, vice president of the Policy, Investigations and Review Division at WorkSafeBC, said in a statement Thursday. See the Full Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Employer's Failure to Act Constitutes
Discrimination Says BC Court
On January 12, 2010, the Supreme Court of BC upheld a 2008 decision of the BC Human Rights Tribunal, in which the employer was found to have discriminated against one of its former employees, based on lack of action to deal with a 'poisoned work atmosphere' created by another employee. The decision of Kinexus Bioinformatics Corp. v. Asad is based on some interesting facts and provides some useful lessons for employers. See the Full Article by Nicole Bryers of Clark Wilson.

Consumer Taxation Branch
For the latest Bulletins from the Consumer Taxation Branch, see What's New.

Local Government News:

Local Government Elections Task Force
If you've ever wanted to have a say in the way your local government representatives and school trustees are elected, this is your chance to speak your mind. There are still a few days left for citizens, organizations and community groups to submit written feedback to the joint Local Government Elections Task Force. See the News Release. In a related story, the panel reversed its earlier decision, and has decided to publish the submissions it receives from the public. The Local Government Elections Task Force was going to keep all the submissions secret but has begun publishing the 250 submissions it has received so far, though it will still withhold the names of the people who wrote them. See the Full Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

Major Industrial Property Taxation Review Underway
A joint review of major industrial property assessment and taxation has been established between the Province, UBCM, and industry, it was recently announced. Over the past year a number of issues have surfaced regarding taxation of properties within the major industry classification. The February 9 throne speech identified the need to make property taxes more conducive to investment while assuring local government services are fairly provided for all taxpayers. See the News Release.

New Interest Rate Regulation
The newest Interest Rate Regulation (B.C. Reg. 70/2010) sets the interest rate to be charged on residential property taxes deferred under the Land Tax Deferment Act. For the 6-month period beginning April 1, 2010, the interest rate is set at 0.25% a year for the regular Property Tax Deferment Program and at 2.25% a year for the Financial Hardship Property Tax Deferment Program.

Ruling on Replacing Older Units with Newer Units in Mobile Parks
Staples McDannold Stewart has posted a bulletin that should help to clarify interpretation of section 911 of the Local Government Act in relation to a recent court ruling concerning the replacement of older units in mobile parks. See the Client Bulletin.

Motor Vehicle News:

Governments Plan To Crack Down On Impaired Drivers
Changes to the Criminal Code, including tough provisions for random blood testing, were considered at meetings in Ottawa aimed at beefing up impaired-driving laws. The federal meetings with stakeholder groups followed on the heels of Solicitor-General Kash Heed saying B.C. is about to crack down on drunk driving. The federal department of justice is also inviting written submissions until April 30. See the Full Story as reported by the Vancouver Sun.

B.C. Plans Tougher Motorcycle Laws
A B.C. Coroners Service death panel review says the government should focus on two main areas to help cut the number of motorcycle-related fatalities. The panel issued nine recommendations to toughen rules for new riders and make other drivers more aware they're sharing the road with vulnerable motorcycles and scooters. Public Safety Minister Kash Heed said the report will influence legislative and regulatory changes now under consideration. See the Full Article as reported in the Globe and Mail.

CVSE Issues Flashing Amber Light Permit
On application of companies or individuals for vehicles requiring amber flashing lights that are not identified in division 4.28 (5)(6) of BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulation 26/58. See the information circular.

Driver May Leave The Scene Of A Single Vehicle Accident
A driver may leave the scene of a single vehicle accident and not report the accident to his insurer, and still be entitled to coverage under his automobile insurance according to an article by Michael Thomas, of Harper Grey LLP. An appeal from a provincial court decision finding that the insured had a right of indemnification against I.C.B.C. for the cost of repairing damage to its motor vehicle was dismissed. The provincial court judge did not err in finding that s. 68(1) of the Insurance (Motor Vehicle) Act applied only to multi-car accidents. See the Full Article.

Real Estate and Builders Lien News:

New Interest Rate Regulation
The newest Interest Rate Regulation (B.C. Reg. 70/2010) sets the interest rate to be charged on residential property taxes deferred under the Land Tax Deferment Act. For the 6-month period beginning April 1, 2010, the interest rate is set at 0.25% a year for the regular Property Tax Deferment Program and at 2.25% a year for the Financial Hardship Property Tax Deferment Program.

Mortgage Rate Increases
Mortgage rates have begun to rise from their record lows, with recent announcements that several Canadian banks are increasing several fixed mortgage rates by up to 6/10ths of a percentage point. The biggest jump is attached to the popular five-year fixed closed rate, which moves from 5.25 per cent to 5.85 per cent at Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust, and Laurentian Bank. That's the posted rate, which is routinely discounted by the big banks. See the Full Story as reported by the CBC. In addition, see a related story from CTV News on how rate increases mean big decisions for mortgage-holders.

Homeowner Protection Act Responsibilities Transferred
As part of government's review of Crown corporations, the Province will transfer a number of the key responsibilities under the Homeowner Protection Act effective April 1, 2010. The transfer of responsibilities includes: transferring the residential builder and building envelope renovator licensing, owner builder authorization and the research and education responsibilities to BC Housing and transferring the administration of the Reconstruction Program to the Ministry of Finance. See the News Release and the amendments in Bill 2, Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2010.

Owners of attached homes and strata corporations
When you buy a strata property, developers and their brokers like to say you're buying a "lifestyle." True enough, though it may not be the relaxed, carefree one they suggest. The lifestyle of a strata owner involves not just elections, but annual budget decisions and – if you're on council – record-keeping and bylaw enforcement. See the Full Article as reported by the Vancouver Sun.