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Home / Archives for Marilyn (Library Technician)

January/February 2014 Issue of LawNow: When It Hurts to be Home

January 13, 2014 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

Photo of face with tear on cheek, text when it hurts to be home

 Featured Articles: When It Hurts to be Home

What happens when your home is not a safe and welcoming place? The law can help; services and supports are available.


Reflecting on Family Violence
Sarah Dargatz
A family law lawyer muses on the importance of hearing and acknowledging her clients’ experiences of violence.
A Spotlight on Family Violence and Immigrant Women in Canada
Lindsey Whitson and Faye Wong
Immigrant women who experience domestic violence may also have to cope with social isolation and language barriers.
Domestic Violence, Renting and the Law
Rochelle Johannson
Homelessness is often a result of domestic violence because of difficulties with rented accommodation. How can the law help?
Corporal Punishment and Domestic Violence
Lana Wells and Alina Tanasescu Turner
Research shows that even mild or moderate corporal punishment has harmful side effects, including the possibility of domestic violence later in life.
Including Pets in Protective Orders
Tim Battle
Women with pets or livestock often delay leaving situations of domestic violence because they are worried about their animals. But Emergency Protection Orders can include them.

Special Report: The Law of Lost and Found

photo of small treasure chest
Finders Keepers? An Historical Survey of Lost and Abandoned Property
Marjun Parcasio
We reach way back to Roman law to establish the rules of ownership of lost property.
All Is Not Lost: The Law of Lost and Found
Peter Bowal and Dusan Kuzma
Over many centuries, lots of rules have been established to determine the ultimate outcome of lost property.

Departments

Viewpoint
Bus Ads Target and Isolate Muslims
Amarjeet Sohi and Erum Afsar 
Ask a Law Librarian
Domestic Violence: Useful Websites for Alberta 
Alberta Law Libraries    
Legal News
Long arm of U of A law looking to reach rural Alberta
Bev Betkowski

Columns

Human Rights Law
Human Rights and Québec’s Charter of Values
Linda McKay-Panos
Not-for-Profit Law
Some Nuances to Keep in Mind When Measuring Giving
Peter Broder
Landlord and Tenant Law
I’ve Been Good. Can My Landlord Make Me Move?
Rochelle Johannson
Criminal Law
Criminal Defence Law in the North: Part One
Charles Davison
A Famous Case Revisited
Whatever Happened to … The Law of Sniffer Dog Searches
Peter Bowal and Evan Knight


 To get all the latest from LawNow, you can subscribe to our email updates!

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: domestic violence, LawNow Magazine, lost and found

A Question about Election Campaign Signs

October 10, 2013 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

Question of the month from the Garvie Reading Room:
Can my landlord prevent me from displaying an election sign supporting a particular candidate?
Election signs on lawnThis depends on the type of election. Both the Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9), section 322, and the Alberta Election Act (E.1, RSA 2000), section 135.5 state clearly that no landlord may prohibit a tenant from displaying election advertising posters on the premises nor may any condominium corporation prohibit any owner or tenant from displaying such posters. They do allow the landlord or condominium corporation to set reasonable limits on the size or type of posters and to prohibit such displays in common areas of the building. Common areas are usually those areas that all tenants can access, like the laundry room, parking lot and land surrounding the building.
However, the Alberta Local Authorities Election Act (E-21, RSA 2000), which governs municipal elections makes no reference to election advertising at all, other than to prohibit such displays at polling stations on election day. Many municipalities have bylaws or regulations related to campaign signs on municipal property and roadways. Generally they have no regulations about private property but do caution that placement of signs on private property must have the permission of the property owner. This would imply that in a municipal election the landlord can refuse for a tenant to display a campaign poster or ask a tenant to remove a sign that has been posted. There may even be a term in your lease governing such displays.
Because each province governs both their own elections and their municipalities, these rules may well differ in other provinces.

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: Elections, Garvie Reading Room, Landlord and Tenant Law, Public Legal Education, Questions

A Question about Pocket Bikes (mini-motorcycles)

June 3, 2013 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

Question of the month from the Garvie Reading Room:
What are the rules about riding a pocket bike in Canada? Can I ride it on the roadway or on sidewalks?
 

Photo by Joey Newcombe (flickr)
Photo by Joey Newcombe (flickr)

The governing of motor vehicles is a shared jurisdiction: provincial and territorial governments regulate and enforce the licensing, operation, modification and maintenance of all vehicles using public roads while Transport Canada controls the importing of vehicles and motor vehicle safety standards.
Because the rules about what types of vehicles are allowed on public roadways are set by provincial and territorial governments there is not one answer for the whole country. Following are three examples of the rules in three different provinces.
Information for BC comes from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia who advise that “Mini motor vehicles, commonly referred to as “pocket bikes” or “mini choppers,” do not meet federal safety standards for use on public roads. Their use is limited on public roads to designated parade routes. The reason that these vehicles aren’t generally allowed on public roads is because they don’t meet minimum height specifications for headlamps, tail lamps, stop lamps, and turn signals. They’re also difficult for other motorists to see.”
On a webpage titled “New and Alternative Vehicles”, Ontario Transportation writes that: “Pocket bikes are meant for closed circuit use only, not public roadways. These bikes can be imported as “restricted-use motorcycles.” However, in order to comply with federal standards, pocket bikes require 17-digit vehicle identification numbers, reflectors and warning labels that clearly state these bikes are intended for off-road use only.”
Alberta Transportation has a Fact Sheet which explains that pocket bikes are prohibited motor vehicles meaning that they are not permitted on roadways which includes sidewalks along the roadway. They may only be operated on private property.
If your province is not covered in this article, you could contact your provincial or territorial government department of transportation for more information. A list of links is provided here (scroll down to the Provincial Governments section).

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: driving, Garvie Reading Room, Motorcycles, Public Legal Education, Questions

How to Find Good Legal Information Online

September 13, 2012 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

From time to time people call us looking for help finding legal information. Recently I spoke to a woman about an issue she was having with a tenant. We conversed for awhile before I realized that she was calling from Florida. Yikes! We provide Canadian legal information. She’s living under a whole different set of laws and a very different legal system. Her internet search had led her to us and she didn’t even realize that she was calling Canada. That’s the problem with the internet. Good information is available, but you have to be on your toes to check if it is relevant and accurate for your situation.

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: Online legal info, Public Legal Education, Videos, Youth, YouTube

A Question about Paying with Coins

March 9, 2012 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

Question of the month from the Garvie Reading Room:
I had over one hundred loonies in my money jar. I rolled them up and took them to the grocery store. I tried to pay my $100 grocery bill with the loonies, but the cashier wouldn’t let me pay with them. The store manager said that he didn’t have to accept the coins for my purchase. Is that true? My friends say, “Of course you can pay with loonies. They’re legal tender in Canada!”
 
The law in Canada (specifically the Currency Act) does say that coins issued under the Royal Canadian Mint Act (such as our $1 coins which we affectionately call loonies) are legal tender in payment for purchases. However, the Currency Act also says that there are limits in how many coins you can use in one transaction. Section 8(2) says:

“A payment in coins referred to in subsection (1) is a legal tender for no more than the following amounts for the following denominations of coins:

(a) forty dollars if the denomination is two dollars or greater but does not exceed ten dollars;

(b) twenty-five dollars if the denomination is one dollar;

(c) ten dollars if the denomination is ten cents or greater but less than one dollar;

(d) five dollars if the denomination is five cents; and

(e) twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.”

 This means that you can’t actually take a hundred loonies to pay for your $100 worth of groceries.
The Currency Act goes on to spell out in section 8(3) that more than one purchase from the same place in one day is considered to be one total amount for the purpose of these limitations. So you cannot try to get clever and divide your $100 purchase into four $25 purchases so you can pay each with your loonies!
That leaves all of us spending our coins a little at a time, or going to the bank to trade them for bills.
You can learn more about the making, use and collection of coins from the Royal Canadian Mint website.

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: coins, Currency Act, Garvie Reading Room, money, Online legal info, Questions

A Question about Burning Money

November 22, 2011 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

Question of the month from the Garvie Reading Room:

photo of Canadian money
Photo by Caitlin Thompson

Is it against the law to burn or otherwise damage Canadian currency?
Canadian currency consists of both coins and bank notes (the proper name for paper money), and the law treats coins differently from bank notes.
The law for coins is quite specifically spelled out in the Currency Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-52) Section 11 (1):

“No person shall, except in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister, melt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada.”

This Act also spells out the penalties for doing so. As if that was not enough, the Criminal Code of Canada (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46) also has a relevant section:

“456. Every one who

(a) defaces a current coin, or

(b) utters a current coin that has been defaced,

is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

(By the way, isn’t this an interesting use of “utters”? In this particular section, “utters” means to use for payment or to sell.)
The law regarding bank notes is very different.  Neither the Bank Act nor the Criminal Code says anything about mutilation or defacement of bank notes. Before you start scribbling on those twenties in your wallet (or burning them up for that matter), there are some important reasons why you should not damage bank notes. Writing on bank notes may interfere with the security features. As well, damage reduces the lifespan of the notes, which increases costs because then they have to be replaced more frequently. Markings on notes may also prevent them from being accepted in transactions. Furthermore, it is generally thought that marking or damaging bank notes is inappropriate because Canadian paper money is a symbol of our country and source of national pride.
The production of bank notes is one of the main roles of the Bank of Canada. If you do encounter damaged or mutilated bank notes, a free redemption service is offered.
In the end, how many of us actually have “money to burn”?
 
Photos by Caitlin Thompson at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittycanuck/

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: Bank of Canada, Currency Act, Garvie Reading Room, money, Online legal info, Questions

A Question about Lawyer’s Fees and Retainers

March 1, 2011 By Marilyn (Library Technician)

Question of the month from the Garvie Reading Room:
I need a lawyer to help me with a situation, so I met with one the other day. The lawyer said that before she would do any work on my case, I would have to pay her $3,000.00 as a retainer. Why should I have to pay her when she hasn’t done anything yet?
A retainer fee is a way of assuring both you and your lawyer that the money will be available to cover your legal fees and any other costs associated with your legal action. You pay a lump sum which is then deposited in a trust account. As the case proceeds, your lawyer will bill you and take money from the trust account for her fees and specified costs (e.g. photocopying, court application fees etc.). If the retainer is used up before the case is completed, you will probably have to pay to top up the account so that the legal work can continue. If there is any of the retainer money left when your case is done and all the fees and costs have been paid, then you will get that money back.
You can find more answers to questions about retainer fees and retainer agreements at Canadian Legal FAQs.
Lawyers charge for services in different ways depending on the type of service being provided and the complexity of the situation. Articles about understanding lawyer’s fees are provided by the Law Societies of BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan as well as the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society.

Filed Under: Blogosaurus Lex Tagged With: Garvie Reading Room, Law FAQs, Lawyers, Online legal info, Retainer

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