The Motor Vehicle Act distracted driving provisions are in need of an update in order to both provide clarity, and to address technological changes that have taken place over the past ten years. As a result of the outdated, and confusing, legislative scheme even police officers who are charged with enforcing the scheme are […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts Three Chinese scientists were sentenced to jail for editing the genes of three fetuses in an attempt to provide immunity from HIV. The scientist used CRISPR in an attempt to disable the gene that allows the HIV virus to enter a cell. The fathers of the children, who appear to be […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a man, born in Canada, to parents who were undercover Russian spies, is a Canadian citizen. This decision, and two others, including a finding that the CRTC does not have the power to require US Super Bowl ads to be shown in Canada, […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts The first topic on the show: Sperm, recovered from a man shortly after his death, pursuant to an interim court order, will not be provided to the man’s wife because the man had not provided his written consent before he died. The Assisted Human Reproduction Act requires written consent for the […]
Listen on Apple Podcast Police officers in Montreal believed that a warning picture on an escalator, suggesting that people hold the handrail, made this a legal requirement. The police officers ordered a woman to hold onto the handrail and, when she refused, they arrested her, placed her in handcuffs, searched her purse, and issued her […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts What’s required for three people to be listed as parents on birth certificates, for children of a same-sex couple, who were conceived with sperm from a friend, who also wished to participate in raising the children? The British Columbia Family Law Act attempts to contemplate a wide range of modern scenarios, […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts In British Columbia witnesses who are testifying in court are required to choose between swearing a religious oath, or making an affirmation, to tell the truth. Children under 14 are only asked to promise to tell the truth. The origin of oaths, to tell the truth, was a belief that divine […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts With Saanich schools closed for a third week as a result of a strike, 2019 amendments to the Labour Relations Code are discussed. These amendments removed a specific provision that declared “the provision of educational programs for students and eligible children under the School Act” to be an essential service. This […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts After almost two weeks Saanich schools are still closed as a result of a strike by support staff. Support staff are seeking a wage increase to match other school districts. The support staff ended up with lower salaries as a result of past contracts that provided for greater benefits, instead of […]
Listen on Apple Podcasts Canada and British Columbia have a very unfortunate history of racist legislation intended to restrict Chinese immigration. This includes the Chinese Immigration Act (1885), which imposed a head tax, the Opium Act (1908) which was passed following anti-Asian riots in 1907 that involved destruction in Vancouver’s Chinatown as well as Japanese […]