Author: Clicklaw Editor

December 2017 Events (BC-wide, Online)

Events

Bookmark this post! It will be updated as more events are announced. You can also get frequent updates via our Twitter. Have a suggestion? Email us.

Register online here.

From Courthouse Libraries BC & PovNet. This webinar is aimed at legal advocates.

Effective communication with a client can be difficult to achieve under ideal circumstances, let alone if your client has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Individuals affected by FASD are at a higher risk of being involved with the law and the court system. Understanding the communication difficulties common among individuals with FASD can go a long way towards trying to minimize negative and repeated encounters with the legal system. Our presenters, Robyn Matthews and Myles Himmelreich, will be providing some insight on how FASD can affect communication with a client and practical tips for effective communication with clients with FASD. Robyn Matthews is the Family and Community Support Coordinator with the Asante Centre and Myles Himmelreich is a well-known motivational speaker on FASD, having presented nationally and internationally for many years, sharing his experiences in living with FASD.

This webinar is made possible with the financial support of PovNet and is intended to assist legal advocates and lawyers working in the area of poverty law. While we invite advocates and lawyers from all areas of practice to participate in this webinar, we would appreciate it if you can indicate if you practice in the area of poverty law to assist us in funding more webinars like this in the future. Register online at the link above.

Register important information and documents and make them available to the people and institutions who need to know. For example, register a Representation Agreement, Enduring Power of Attorney and other details related to personal or estate planning. Be prepared in case of a natural disaster such as a wildfire, flood or earthquake — register documents you can use during the disaster and to re-build your life afterwards. Register online at the link above.

Fee is $50. If you are a registered non-profit society delivering community social social services within the geographical boundaries of the City of Vancouver, you may be eligible to receive a bursary to assist you with all or part of the workshop registration fee. Get more information here.

Stay informed:

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Organization of the Month | November 2017

Get help using Clicklaw

This month, we feature Consumer Protection BC, a Clicklaw contributor.

Consumer Protection BC is a provincial regulator that licenses several sectors (see Infographic below) and offers information and referrals to people in BC.

Meet Laura

Laura Cox is the Manager, Licensing and Information Services at Consumer Protection BC. Her team handles the licensing of all the sectors that Consumer Protection BC oversees, and also offers assistance to consumers.

What has surprised you most about working with your organization?

I joined our organization in 2012. It is surprising to see how many consumer calls and emails we receive which are outside of our mandate. We work really hard to provide consumers with the best possible referral, but in some cases the referral is to a lawyer, or court.

As a regulator, we oversee three different Acts, and many sectors. It was overwhelming to see how much I would need to learn.

It seems like that’s a widely held misconception–that you can help with any consumer issue.

[I think that because of our name] people assume we can help with any consumer issue, but that’s just not the case. We oversee specific laws and can only help when a potential violation of that law has occurred. This is why my team works so hard to ensure we have the right referrals for consumer issues that fall outside of our mandate.

What are some common referrals that you do make?

One of our top referrals is to the Vehicle Sales Authority–they oversee the retail sales of vehicles sold through licensed dealerships.

We also refer a lot of consumers to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Service (CCTS)–they can help consumers who have an issue with a cell phone, landline, cable, TV, or internet provider.

We have a page designated on our new website for our top referrals. To learn more about other agencies who can help consumers within BC visit our referral page here.

Do you have any interesting stories of clients you’ve helped in the past year?

Here’s a story we shared in our annual report (names and some details have been changed to protect privacy):

It was time to get his chimney fixed, so Eddy hired a masonry company to do the repairs. After quite a delay in getting any work done, the masonry company tried to convince Eddy he had a mould problem in his house and they could help. Eddy had a background in the trades and knew there was no mould problem. This was a red flag for him so he decided to cancel the contract and get his deposit back. Something just didn’t feel right. When the business owner stated all deposits were non-refundable, Eddy got nervous. “I’m pushing 80,” says Eddy, “and [the owner] was fighting me on this tooth and nail. At one point, I had to order him off my property.”

That’s when Eddy decided to reach out to Consumer Protection BC to see if they could help. It was determined the business didn’t have all the required content in their contracts and Eddy was within his rights to cancel. Consumer Protection BC’s involvement resulted in a full refund. Eddy stresses the importance of practicing due diligence when hiring someone to do work on your house and to make sure you ask around about the company’s reputation. “Normally I am very careful with these kinds of things,” Eddy says. “But sometimes you get caught off guard. I’m thankful things turned out the way they did.

That’s a great story. What else do you regulate in addition to consumer contracts?

We are responsible for enforcing the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, and the Motion Picture Act, and the related regulations. Here is a helpful infographic that shows the sectors we license and regulate:

Thank you for sharing with us today, Laura. Last question–what are you most excited about, recently?

Our new website launch is really exciting! On top of this we continue to work on an online portal for our licensees. This will allow them to accomplish more online, which will save them time; they will also be able to make changes and renew their licenses really quickly.

Stay informed with Consumer Protection BC:

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