Child Protection Project Committee continues examination of definitions and terms used in Child, Family and Community Service Act

BCLI’s Child Protection Project Committee continued its review of the Child, Family and Community Service Act at its October 2019 committee meeting. As at its previous monthly meeting, the committee’s focus remained on updating the definitions and terms used in this act, in light of the new terminology that appeared with the coming into force of the Family Law Act in 2013. There is broad recognition of the value of harmonizing the definitions and terms Read more…

Difficulties Seniors Face with Financial Services

This post is part of a series highlighting key themes and presenters from the 2019 Elder Law Conference. To see the other posts in the series, click here       Earlier this year OBSI released its first ever Seniors Report, documenting the experiences of seniors using its services. The national, not-for-profit organization collected demographic and case data for 2017 and 2018 to create the report, which used the age of 60 as the threshold age of a senior.   Demographics The Read more…

Federal Election 2019: Identifying the Seniors’ Policy Issues

Co-written with Lorraine Wong   This year, Canada’s political parties have announced many policies on their platforms that are particularly relevant to seniors. Some issues, such as pensions, are more clearly seniors’ policy topics; other policies that do not directly target seniors could still have a significant impact on older people. For example, expenditures that would open up a greater number of affordable childcare spots could improve quality of life for seniors. As we discussed Read more…

Ontario Law on Undue Influence in Estate Planning

Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust       This post is part of a series highlighting key themes and presenters from the 2019 Elder Law Conference. To see the other posts in the series, click here   Historically the area of estates was not particularly litigious, but as families and financial circumstances become more complex, litigation involving estates has become more frequent. Frequently touted, but notoriously difficult to prove, is the allegation of someone being unduly influenced in making their Will. A Read more…

Amendments to the Child, Family and Community Service Act introduced in the legislature

Earlier this week, a bill amending the Child, Family and Community Service Act was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. A government information bulletin issued to publicize the bill (Bill 35) called the changes “[m]inor amendments” that “would clarify the intention that Indigenous communities have the ability to plan for all their children and youth in care and are able to deliver a broad range of supports and services to their children and Read more…