In this issue - #122 March 31, 2009

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Quebec court rules that woman has no legal right to adopt a child that she paid a surrogate to carry for her, as surrogacy is illegal in Quebec.   The court refused to allow her to “bypass what is illegal” by going through an adoption.  Her spouse, however, had a legal claim to adopt the child because his sperm was used to inseminate the surrogate’s egg.  The result leaves the child without a legal mother.

Find out under what circumstances you might be liable to pay child support for your stepchildren in the event you and your spouse separate. The approach taken by the courts in BC may surprise you....

In an effort to more effectively confront and prosecute organized and gang crime, British Columbia and Baja California (Mexico) have agreed to begin sharing information about criminal activities that transcend international borders.  Such activities include, among others, human and weapons trafficking, money laundering, Internet crimes against children, and offenders fleeing the jurisdiction.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the costs of labour and materials required to complete any given construction project is often drastically different from the fixed price quoted by the contractor when contracting to work on the project.  This begs the question: who is required to pay for delays and/or cost increases arising throughout the life of a fixed price construction contract?

In employment law circles, the terms “enticement” or “inducement” refer to the more aggressive methods by which an employer will woo an individual to accept an employment offer.  In a competitive job market, employers will often go to great lengths to convince a person to leave his/her existing employment and join the team.  These efforts can, however, have nasty consequences for the employer if the new employment proves to be short-lived.
Learn more about avoiding the perils of enticement at:
http://www.pushormitchell.com/law-library/article/avoiding-pitfalls-enticement

Previous articles in Robert’s “Legal Ease” series, on a wide variety of employment and labour topics, may be viewed at:
http://www.pushormitchell.com/law-library/publication/legal-ease
 

Two Canadian MPs are learning about the dangers of the Internet the hard way after their domain names were scooped up and linked to websites promoting sex and drugs. Both MPs let the registration on the domains bearing their names lapse, allowing unknown buyers to scoop them up.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/03/06/8647906-sun.html

British Columbia has introduced legislation which would improve the ability of those trained in the trades and professionals to work in any province in Canada.  Bill 9 would be a step towards removing the barriers for workers who are certified in a Canadian province to use their skills for employment in any other Canadian jurisdiction. British Columbia is the first Canadian province to introduce legislation of this sort.

The News Release on Bill 9 is available online at:
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2009STED0015-000342.htm
 

British Columbia has introduced amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Act which would enable the application of the pension standards to the new privately financed pension plan Premier Campbell announced in October 2008. The new plan combined with the amendments to the Act would improve access to pension coverage for all workers in British Columbia including employees and self-employed persons.  The amendments will come into force when the new private pension plan is established in 2010.

The News Release regarding these amendments is available online at:
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2009FIN0007-000501.htm

The new Health Care Costs Recovery Act comes into force in British Columbia as of April 1, 2009.  The Act sets out detailed rights and obligations regarding the recovery of health care costs incurred as a result of personal injuries or death.  Under the Act, plaintiffs are required to include, in an action they commence, a claim to recover the cost of health care incurred as a result of their injuries. 

The Act does not apply to a plaintiff whose injuries arise as the result of a motor vehicle accident where the wrongdoer has coverage under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act.  Similarly, the Act does not apply to injuries where compensation is paid or payable out of the accident fund under the Workers Compensation Act. However, the Act applies to all other injuries that occurred either before or after April 1, 2009. 

A plaintiff must notify the Government of a claim to recover health care costs within 21 days after commencing the legal proceedings. It will be very important for plaintiffs and their counsel to be aware of the obligations imposed on them under the Act and to claim to recover those damages accordingly.

The full-text of the Act is available online at: http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/3rd_read/gov22-3.htm

British Columbia has proposed amendments to the Strata Property Act to enhance the dispute resolution mechanisms available to strata owners and strata corporations.  These proposed changes would improve dispute resolution by allowing the Provincial Court in British Columbia to deal with many strata disputes as well as improve the availability of arbitration and mediation processes for disputes. The amendments also provide some further clarification to the Act which may help owners and strata corporations avoid disputes in the first place.

The News Release for these amendments is available online at:
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2009FIN0006-000496.htm