Sea to Sky Law Blog

Question: Do I need to provide evidence to prove a breach of contract when the breach is admitted? Answer: Yes evidence is always required. Every claim has two parts to it: proof of liability and proof of damages (actual loss). The Global News reported a good example of the need to always pro...

Question: How do I interpret a Contract to know if there has been a "breach of contract"? Answer: From the words drafted. Global News reported a recent decision by an Ontario Court that decided a claim for specific performance of a lease by the Bellwoods Brewery against its landlord. This court...

Who wants crappy ice cream? Question: Why does LEGAL ADVICE cost so much? Answer: It is in the ingredients. My 30 years of successful experience practicing law taught me that the best explanations give the reader some practical context so I thought the recent news article about the world's mos...

New Business law decision The Supreme Court of Canada 🇨🇦 issued an important decision for business law on 18 December 2020. In the decision C.M. Callow Inc. V. Zellweger, 2020 SCC 45, our highest court affirmed its 2014 decision that honesty is required in business. Our SCC has held that the d...

SMALL CLAIMS COURT We all want the law and process to be simple but that is not reality. Even with all court rules and laws available online, it is highly recommended that you obtain legal advice to confirm your options. ​In British Columbia, there are two courts available to sue for wrongs: ...

Many people know that the 2013 FLA has a 50/50 division of family assets as the starting point then one can argue whether half would be fair. But a Supreme Court decision this year highlighted a mistake many make. The first argument is not about the size of the asset share but whether the asset...

There are several levels of court to help us solve disputes, starting with the Provincial Court. Our top court in Canada is the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) which provides unifying legal principles which all courts must follow. The recent SCC decision, on 28 May 2021 cited as 2021 SCC 23, agai...

On 4 June 2021 the Supreme Court of Canada issued an unanimous decision about how the retroactive reduction of a periodic child support amount should be approached, cited as Colucci v Colucci 2021 SCC 24. Photo from the SCC collection. This decision was about an application under s17 of the Div...

The failure to promptly provide all financial disclosure in family cases has been described by our Court of Appeal to be a cancer in family litigation. The failure to provide proper disclosure requires time and money to press for disclosure orders which increases legal costs in family litigatio...

You might have heard about the well-reasoned court decision R. v. Stevikova, 2021 BCPC 235 (CanLII). The accused pled guilty to two criminal charges as a result of her breaching the Wildlife Act by leaving food out for bears. As a consequence, a mother bear and her two cubs had to be shot to prot...

Your Corporate Minute Book Did you know that in Western Law there are 2 legal persons on the planet - humans and corporations? The concept of a corporation was based on the original risk sharing ventures when multiple investors would take shares in the cargo or stock of the old sailing ships. Mo...

YOU WILL SAVE MONEY if you list the sale of your home with us FIRST!! As a lawyer registered with RELEXinc.ca, we are part of an approved program allowing RELEXinc.ca registered Lawyers and Realtors to share the standard MLS fee to include all the normal conveyance legal costs PLUS giving you leg...

Most people know there is now a 2 year time limitation to filing a Claim - the question is when does the time start? The balance is between the need to provide a practical time limit on the right to sue and when this limitation time clock starts so the Claimant has a fair chance to realize a ca...

Two courts are available in BC to resolve family law issues: the Supreme Court which is more traditional and has a greater scope of jurisdiction, and the lower Provincial Court which cannot resolve asset nor debt FLA issues nor grant a Divorce. Both courts can resolve all parenting and support ...

I worked a family law trial of over 40 court appearances over two years. The main issue was about Guardianship under the BC 2013 Family Law Act because if you are not a Guardian then you cannot have Parenting Responsibilities etc; you are limited to Contact time. If parents do not live together...

The tort of negligence was again clarified and confirmed in the recent Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision of Nelson (City) v. Marchi, 2021 SCC 41 issued on 21 October 2021. This SCC decision is important for a number of reasons including the affirmation that public bodies such as cities can b...

In Britain both lawyers and judges still wear wigs as well as robes. In British Columbia we do not wear wigs, and starting November 2021 we no longer address BC Supreme Court justices with the traditional My Lord or My Lady. There is a helpful summary on the Provincial Court web site at https://w...

Question: I have a friend who is intellectually disabled. She reads at about a second-grade level. If I am unable to help her can a lawyer? The question does not appear to be about whether the person is physically capable but whether the person has the mental competence to make decisions in their...

Forged Will QUESTION = "My dad's 2nd wife forged his Will 10 years after he passed away in order to sell his homestead house that she wasn't on the deed is there anything that can be done" ? ANSWER = Yes of course you can do something - retain an experienced lawyer quickly! The circumstances a...

My prescription for my clients to reduce the stress from legal issues and even to improve their lives long term, is to have every day all four of the 4 essentials = Good Sleep, Good Soup, Good Sports and Good Safety. If you have all 4 essentials every day then from my life experience you will b...

Photo above of the Chilliwack Courthouse, by John Deacon QC, where I attended for a hearing set for all day. I was able to help another parent achieve a Consent Order, instead of starting a hearing, for family law parenting arrangements at Chilliwack Court. A consent order is often preferable t...

Many people know that the 2013 FLA has a 50/50 division of family assets as the starting point then one can argue whether half would be fair. But a Supreme Court decision this year highlighted a mistake many make. The first argument is not about the size of the asset share but whether the asset i...

On the ferry again from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale through Howe Sound. Many people think, maybe because of the need for a ferry, that Langdale, Gibsons and Sechelt etc are on an island but they are on the Sunshine Coast which is part of the mainland. I am told there are logging roads which provide...

Earth Day movement to save our planet from ourselves. There is no do-over if we screw up the only planet we have. Inspired by a massive oil spill in 1969, Gaylord Nelson a Wisconsin USA senator with the help of Congressman Pete McCloskey organized a teach-in on campuses nationally to highlight th...

First of course is the caveat - THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE! This is only general information. No writing on the internet for the public to read is legal advice - legal advice is your personal lawyer telling you about your personal legal issue. ​ Also the law is often different in each jurisdictio...