April 2018 Events (BC-wide, Online)

Events, The broader context

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  • April 4 – 20 (various dates): Law for Nonprofits presents various workshops in Creston, Slocan Valley, Nelson, and Vancouver.
    •  Wednesday, April 4 (9:30 am – 12:00 pm) The New Societies Act: What You Need to Know – the Alliance for Arts + Culture, Vancouver. The fee is $50. City of Vancouver Bursaries available. Get more information and register online here.
    • Wednesday, April 4 (1:30 – 4:00 pm) Privacy 101 – the Alliance for Arts + Culture, Vancouver. The fee is $50. City of Vancouver Bursaries available. Get more information and register online here.
    • Thursday, April 12 (2:00 – 4:00 pm) The New Societies Act: What You Need to Know –  College of the Rockies – Creston campus. Free if your organization is registered with the West Kootenay Transition Hub. Get more information and register online here.
    • Saturday, April 14 (10:00 am – 12:00 pm) The New Societies Act: What You Need to Know – CVFD Fire Hall, Crescent Valley. Free if your organization is registered with the West Kootenay Transition Hub. Get more information and register online here.
    • Friday, April 20 (2:00 – 4:00 pm) The New Societies Act: What You Need to Know – Selkirk College, Nelson. Free if your organization is registered with the West Kootenay Transition Hub. Get more information and register online here.
  • April 4 – 10 (various dates): Plan Institute presents information sessions and workshops by phone and in Vancouver:
    • Wednesday, April 4 (10:00 am – 12:00 pm) Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) – teleseminar by phone/computer. Cost: free. Register online here.
    • Thursday, April 5 (7:00 – 9:00 pm) OR Thursday, April 19 (10:00 am – 12:00 pm) Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning Workshop – Plan Institute Office, Suite 260 – 3665 Kingsway, Vancouver. Cost: $65.00 per person or $90.00 for two. Register online here.
    • Tuesday, April 10 (10:00 am – 12:00 pm) Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) – Plan Institute Office, Suite 260 – 3665 Kingsway, Vancouver. Cost: free. Register online here.
  • April 5 – 25 (various dates): Courthouse Libraries BC hosts free webinars on various topics.
    • Thursday, April 5 (1:00 – 2:30 pm) Canada Pension Plan Disability Application and Reconsideration – for legal advocates, presented by Disability Alliance BC. Register online here.
    • Thursday, April 12 (10:00 – 11:00 am) Financial 1st Aid for Service Providers – for legal advocates and intermediaries, presented by Credit Counselling Society. Register online here.
    • Wednesday, April 25 (12:00 – 1:30 pm) Working with Indigenous Clients: Understanding the Historic and Current Contexts that Affect Your Work – for lawyers and legal advocates, presented by Lynda Gray, author of First Nations 101. Register online here.
  • April 8 – 21 (various dates): the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch presents various events as part of BC Law Week 2018 by phone and across the province.
    • April 8 – 14 Make-a-Will Week
    • April 14 – 21 Regional Events in BC courthouses – Nanaimo, Kamloops, Victoria, Kelowna.
    • April 16 – 20 Vancouver Courthouse Tours
    • Saturday, April 21 (10:00 am – 2:00 pm) Dial-A-Lawyer Day event by phone. Everyone in BC is invited to speak with a lawyer for FREE for up to 15 minutes about the following areas of law: business, employment, family, immigration, tort & motor vehicle, wills & estates. Download the poster (PDF) for more information.

For a list of all classes, locations, and contact info, visit BC Law Week 2018 website. Topics include strata law, employment law, wills & estates, personal planning, accidents & injuries, and mediation. Get more information on each class here.

  • Friday, April 13 (1:00 – 2:30 pm): Peter A. Allard School of Law presents Indigenous Legal Studies Book Talk: Otter’s Journey at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Join the Indigenous Legal Studies for their inaugural book talk series. In Otter’s Journey, Lindsay Borrows employs the Anishinabee tradition of storytelling to explore how Indigenous language revitalization can inform the emerging field of Indigenous legal revitalization. Get more information here (PDF).

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Have your say on governance issues for strata corporations

Community posts

by Kevin Zakreski, staff lawyer, BCLI

The British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) is asking you for your views on proposals to change the law governing B.C.’s strata corporations. With its Consultation Paper on Governance Issues for Stratas, BCLI has made 83 tentative recommendations to reform the Strata Property Act, the Strata Property Regulation, and the standard bylaws applicable to strata corporations. You can comment on these tentative recommendations until 15 June 2018.

About strata-corporation governance

Governance is the method or system of an organization’s management. Good governance helps an organization to make timely, effective, and enforceable decisions. Laws on governance are intended to foster these goals.

The popular conception of decision-making in property law emphasizes the sovereignty of individual owners. It’s reflected in the saying, “my home, my castle.” This does not work for strata properties. Giving every owner a veto over every decision would make it next to impossible for the collective to manage common property and to ensure harmonious living.

So strata governance has been based on the corporate model. It provides for majority rule on most decisions, with some important, far-reaching decisions calling for greater-than-majority support.

The consultation paper doesn’t take issue with this basic premise of strata governance. But it does propose a significant level of fine-tuning in selected areas, to improve the operation of the law.

An overview of the consultation paper’s tentative recommendations

Highlights from the paper’s proposals include:

  • relocating 11 bylaws (or parts of a bylaw) from the Schedule of Standard Bylaws to the body of the Strata Property Act, to give stratas certainty that those provisions can’t be amended;
  • establishing a defined form of proxy appointment for strata-corporation general meetings, to clarify the relationship between the proxy and the person appointing the proxy and help to stamp out abuses of the proxy system;
  • establishing statutory qualifications for strata-council members, modelled on the qualifications for directors found in the Societies Act, which will set the minimum standards for serving on a strata council;
  • clarifying the order of agenda items for strata-corporation general meetings, to allow for better meeting procedure; and
  • creating a special four-year limitation period for claims that may be subject to the strata corporation’s lien under section 116 of the act, which will help stratas in enforcing their claims.

The consultation paper also considered, but declined to endorse, the following proposals:

  • extending the strata corporation’s lien to cover fines and charge backs;
  • limiting the number of proxy appointments for a general meeting that one person may hold.

How to have your say

Copies of the consultation paper are available for download at the BCLI website. Also on the BCLI website are links to interactive surveys maintained by BCLI and a response booklet, which may be completed and sent to <strata@bcli.org>. Finally, for those who prefer a more focussed experience, a summary consultation paper featuring three highlighted proposals is also available for download.

About the Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two

Since 2013, BCLI has been at work on the Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two. The goal of the project is to recommend changes to the law necessary to support the next generation of strata-property legislation in British Columbia.

In carrying out the project, BCLI has the benefit of assistance from an expert project committee, with 13 leaders drawn from the ranks of the legal, notarial, real-estate, and strata-management professions, public officials, and owners’ organizations.

The project is supported by nine funding organizations.

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