Finding on whether strata plan contained errors in designating limited common property necessary to determine outcome of strata-property parking dispute

In Chow v The Owners, Strata Plan NW 3243, 2017 BCCA 28, the BC Court of Appeal set aside a supreme-court decision and returned a petition to that court for a new hearing. The case involved consideration of whether failure to amend a strata plan under section 257 of the Strata Property Act was significantly unfair (within the meaning of section 164 of the act) to the owners who supported the amendment. In the court’s Read more…

Isabelle’s New Year beginnings at the Canadian Centre for Elder Law

With a New Year often come new beginnings. My exciting new beginning for 2017 is that I am now part of a vibrant team of passionate people working hard to reform the law to improve the lives of older Canadians. When the opportunity to join the CCEL as a community engagement coordinator came up, I felt I could play a role and make a difference. I became exposed to issues faced by seniors and the Read more…

BC Supreme Court approves strata corporation’s remediation resolution

Section 173 (2) of the Strata Property Act allows a strata corporation to apply to the supreme court for an order relating to “a special levy to raise money for the maintenance or repair of common property or common assets.” There are a couple of conditions that have to be met before the order may be granted: the levy must be “necessary to ensure safety or to prevent significant loss or damage, whether physical or otherwise”; Read more…

BCLI turns 20 today!

20 years ago today the British Columbia Law Institute was incorporated under the BC Society Act. In 2017 we plan to celebrate our many achievements and successes. We will be hosting two events to thank our many past and present committee volunteers, board members, staff, students, funders and supporters without whom we could not have achieved the successes we have enjoyed. Readers are invited to visit our 20th anniversary page on our website for more Read more…

Greater Rural Broadband Access Can Mean Greater Access to Justice

Greater access to justice may be an indirect consequence of the CRTC decision on 21 December 2016 requiring internet providers to dedicate resources to expanding and enhancing high-speed internet service in rural and remote areas of Canada.  As BCLI’s study paper Technology-Assisted and Remote Evidence Presentation: A Practice Resource points out, legal barriers to conducting multiparty court and tribunal proceedings by streaming audio and video from multiple endpoints have largely been removed.  Full realization of Read more…