In this issue - #122 April 30, 2009

Pushor Mitchell LLP is pleased to welcome Matthew Kraemer to the firm and to Kelowna.  Matt’s practice is focused on the area of tax law, and includes the areas of tax litigation, business law, trusts, and estate planning.  Matt has been involved in numerous corporate reorganizations, has resolved disputes with the CRA, and has appeared at the Tax Court of Canada.  Matt is called to the bar in both British Columbia and Alberta.  Matt can be contacted at 250-869-1145 or kraemer@pushormitchell.com

At the moment of termination of employment, the employer must make a decision regarding its chosen reasons for termination.  Making the correct decision and sticking with that version of events can mean the difference between an uneventful termination and a wrongful dismissal action claiming punitive damages.  In a recent decision of the B.C. Supreme Court, an employer discovered the cost (to the tune of $100,000) of having relied on an incorrect version of events and then later adopting revised reasons for the termination.

A new property tax deferment program for B.C. residents is available for the 2009 and 2010 tax years.  The program is called the B.C. Financial Hardship Property Tax Deferment Program and is different from the B.C. Property Tax Deferment Program offered in previous years and still offered.  B.C. residents are encouraged to determine which program provides greater benefit given their individual circumstances. 
 

British Columbia Court of Appeal find sections of the Indian Act violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

2009 BCCA 153 McIvor v. Canada (Registrar of Indian and Northern Affairs):

On April 6, 2009, the British Columbia Court of Appeal unanimously declared that Sections 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(c) of the Indian Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-5, were of no force and effect. The Court of Appeal suspended their declaration for a period of 12 months, to allow Parliament time to enact the legislative change.

Domain names are incredibly valuable assets. Not only do they identify the source of a company’s products and services, but they also provide a ‘virtual location’ of that source which, nowadays, is potentially more useful than an address or telephone number.

The Supreme Court of Canada has recently decided an interesting case on collisions with large animals on the highway. The Court found the driver can indeed be found negligent in certain circumstances, where a passenger has been injured.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (4/17), Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, writes, "The super-high efficiency minicar has become the Holy Grail for many environmentalists," but an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study found that minis offer "significantly less protection for their passengers" during two car crashes. "That's not what advocates of higher fuel-economy standards want to hear. Greater weight may increase crashworthiness, but it also decreases miles per gallon, so there's an inevitable trade-off between safety and efficiency."

However, "with the exception of IIHS, there's practically no one else providing information on the size-safety issue." A federal appeals court found the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "guilty of using 'mumbo jumbo' and 'legerdemain' to conceal" the "lethal effects" of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. "Don't expect" the Environmental Protection Agency to "admit to CAFE's dangers," Kazman writes, adding that Consumer Reports "has consistently failed to mention the importance of size and weight in discussing how to choose a safer car."