Project Update: Engaging People Living with Dementia in Decision-Making

Introduction The Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL) is collaborating on a three-year project. The goal of this project is to support people living with dementia to be meaningfully involved in everyday decision-making that matters to them. To reach this goal, we are consulting with people living with dementia, people living with disabilities, and care partners to identify and create strategies to support decision-making. The need for the project was identified in a previous project Read more…

Notice and best interests of the child considered at November 2021 Parentage Law Reform Project Committee Meeting

At the latest monthly meeting of BCLI’s committee considering reforms to part 3 of the Family Law Act the committee considered two issues concerning section 31 of the act, which sets out the framework for court orders declaring parentage. The first issue concerns notice of applications to court under the section. Section 31 already has a provision that lists people who must be notified of an application. But the provision is incomplete. Notably, it doesn’t refer to public Read more…

Manitoba introduces new parentage legislation

A bill has just been introduced in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba which will “replace” the province’s current parentage legislation and “establish new rules respecting the parentage of children conceived through assisted reproduction, including where a surrogate is used.” The provisions of the Manitoba bill most closely resemble those found in Saskatchewan’s parentage legislation, which was enacted in 2020 and is currently the newest legislation on parentage in Canada. The Manitoba bill covers a range of topics, including the following: Read more…

BCLI Congratulates newly elected and re-elected Law Society of BC Benchers

The BCLI wishes to congratulate all the newly elected and re-elected benchers for the Law Society of BC.  We are particularly pleased to see a few familiar faces who have been a part of or played a key role in the BCLI over the past years and would like to give them special acknowledgement: Tom Spraggs (Former BCLI Director & Chair) Jacqueline G. McQueen, QC (Member, Pension Division Reform Project Committee) Katrina Harry (Co-Chair, Child Read more…

Societies Act amendments receive royal assent

On 28 October 2021, Bill 19, the Societies Amendment Act, 2021, received royal assent. “The purpose of the proposed amendments,” notes a ministry of finance news release, “is to address various issues that have come to light since the act came into force”: The new act provides societies with a responsive legislative framework, giving them greater adaptability in their internal governance, while ensuring transparency and accountability. . . . These proposed amendments will refine the Societies Act by Read more…