CPLEA is participating at the 2015 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Proclamation Event at City
Hall today, June 15.
We are showcasing new resource materials (English and French) on how readily available legal tools can be used to discourage elder abuse. These legal documents include enduring powers of attorney, personal directives, guardianship and trusteeship.
The new resource materials include the Resource Manuals and eight short information sheets available for preview and download at: https://www.cplea.ca/
These resource materials are part of a CPLEA project, Let’s Talk: Elder Abuse funded by Employment and Social Development Canada.
"Can my boss do that?" New Employment Law Resources
CPLEA has a collection of new resources on employment law for youth in Alberta.
Funded by the Human Rights and Multiculturalism Fund, this project was created as a way to connect new Canadians with information about their rights at work.
This project was guided in part by our previous research on Law for Alberta’s Multicultural Communities.
We spoke with newcomer youth and agencies that work with them to find out what information about employment law the youth and their families need. In many newcomer families, children act as intermediaries to pass on information, including legal information. When youth learn about their rights and responsibilities, they are not only empowered themselves, they are also able to pass the information on t
o other people in their families and communities.
When talking with the youth we heard many different scenarios and most ended with the question “Can my boss do that?” The resources we created provide answers to that question.
A variety of formats, including infographics, videos, articles, and quizzes presents the information in interesting ways and allows us to reach people of different learning styles.
The collection of resources can be found on the CPLEA website: Your Rights at Work
New CPLEA website! Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta
CPLEA is excited to announce the launch of our redesigned Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta website.
The new website features a modern, streamlined design with enhanced searching capability and the same excellent plain language content that Alberta tenants and landlords have come to expect from CPLEA.
The new website also features CPLEA’s brand new tip sheet for tenants who have lost their jobs due to the economic downturn and dropping oil prices. If your Employment Ends… Laws for Tenants in Alberta explains what options tenants have if they can no longer afford their rent and want to move out early.
CPLEA’s Laws for Landlords and Tenants in Alberta program, including the redevelopment of the website, is generously supported by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation.
Updated Canadian Legal FAQs on Living Together in Alberta
CPLEA has recently updated the information on Adult Interdependent Relationships at Canadian Legal FAQs.
In Alberta provincial law doesn’t use the term “common law” to describe two people who are living together but are not legally married. Instead, two people who are in a committed domestic relationship in Alberta can be in an Adult Interdependent Relationship (AIR).
Most people in AIRs are romantic partners, but the relationship does not have to be romantic to be an AIR. An AIR consists of two people who have been living together for a certain length of time, share one another’s life, function as an economic and domestic unit, and are emotionally committed to one another.
To learn more about AIRs, go to Canadian Legal FAQs or download and print this booklet about AIRs in Alberta.
New resources on Family Law in Alberta
CPLEA has created new resources on Family Law in Alberta in partnership with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre.
The Edmonton Community Legal Centre offers free legal information sessions on Family Law. You can find the schedule at www.eclc.ca/information-sessions.html
The five booklets in the series provide practical legal information on Child Custody and Parenting, Financial Support, Property Division, Representing Yourself in Family Court, and Young Parents.
The booklets can be downloaded for free at www.cplea.ca/store
Child Custody and Parenting
This booklet explains the law and parenting in Alberta.
It has information about custody and guardianship, parenting plans, how to make agreements with the other parent, common problems and suggestions on how to resolve them.
Financial Support
This booklet explains the law and financial support when a relationship ends in Alberta.
It has information for people who were legally married and people who lived in a common law relationship.
Property Division
This booklet explains the law and property division when a relationship ends in Alberta.
It has information for people who were legally married and people who lived in a common law relationship.
Representing Yourself in Family Court
This booklet explains how the legal process works in Alberta.
It has information for people who were legally married and people who lived in a common law relationship.
Young Parents
This booklet explains the law for young parents.
It has information about pregnancy, adoption, guardianship, living together, getting married, living apart and child support
Thank you to the family law legal service providers who reviewed the booklets and provided valuable feedback.
We gratefully acknowledge the Alberta Law Foundation for the funding that made this project possible.
A Question about Election Campaign Signs
Question of the month from the Garvie Reading Room:
Can my landlord prevent me from displaying an election sign supporting a particular candidate?
This 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.
A Question about Pocket Bikes (mini-motorcycles)
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?
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).
Youth Project wins the 2012 Alberta Consumer Champion Award
The Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta (CPLEA) was a recipient of Service Alberta’s Consumer Champion Award of Merit at a ceremony at the legislature on April 8, 2013. CPLEA received the award for its Youth Project – a project designed to increase the legal knowledge of youth, particularly marginalized youth in the province.
The Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta (CPLEA) with the support of the Alberta Law Foundation started a project in October 2011 to empower vulnerable youth in Alberta by educating them about their legal rights. Through consultation with intermediaries that work with marginalized youth, CPLEA identified a need for information about consumer issues such as renting, mobile phones, payday loans, and debt. Over the past year and a half CPLEA has developed resources and delivered training sessions for intermediaries in response to this need for consumer information. Some of these resources include:
- 8 Rules for Smart Renters Video and Tip Sheet;
- Can My Landlord Mobile App;
- Debt Problems Infographic;
- Is It Reliable? 7 Clues for Good Legal Information Online Video and Tip Sheet;
- Pay Day Loans Infographic;
- Phone Contracts – Are They Right For You? Infographic; and
- When Things Go Wrong With Mobile Phones Infographic.
CPLEA has held seven “Renting 101” training sessions by lawyers for intermediaries and vulnerable youth with more scheduled in the near future. A Renting 101 webinar is scheduled for May and registration is still open. CPLEA has also displayed at youth events such as the Making Connections Family Resource Fair, YOUCAN’s International Youth Day Celebration, and the Edmonton Queer Prom.
Tenant Rights When the Landlord Sells the Rental Property
There are few situations that bring home the somewhat tenuous nature of renting more than when the landlord puts the rental property up for sale. Does the tenant have any rights to object to showings? Does the landlord have to even tell the tenant that the place is being sold? Can the landlord end the lease early?
You can find the answers to these questions and more by going to our new publication What You Need to Know if the Place You are Renting is Sold.
FAQ: Does a landlord have to tell tenants if the property is sold?
Can a landlord charge a tenant for renovations?
I just got a question from a tenant. The landlord replaced all the windows in the rental property, and then gave the tenant a bill for half the cost of the renovations. Seriously.
The tenant doesn’t have to pay the landlord the money. There are some costs that are simply the costs of doing business, and maintaining the property by replacing windows is just one of many costs this landlord is going to run into.\
If the tenant had broken a window because, I don’t know, there was an intense game of indoor baseball going on, then yes, for sure, the landlord could charge the tenant for the repair and replacement of the window. Or the landlord could charge the tenant when the tenant moved, and keep some of the security deposit to cover the cost.
The Residential Tenancies Act doesn’t actually set out who is responsible for repairs and that’s why sometimes, there is confusion about what repairs the landlord can charge the tenant for, and what repairs the landlord can’t charge for. The common sense approach is that any “big” repairs are the landlord’s responsibility and “teeny tiny” repairs are the tenant’s responsibility. So, while the tenant can change the lightbulb, it’s the landlord that installs the new light fixtures when the old ones break.
There is also the Minimum Housing and Health Standards that can help us to decide who should pay for repairs. One of the landlord’s responsibilities is to make sure that the rental property meets these standards. The standards set out that the windows must be in good repair, free of cracks and weatherproof. So, if the windows in the property do not meet this standard, then it’s the landlord’s job to make sure that the windows get repaired or replaced. If the property is not being maintained, then the tenant can call Environmental Public Health and talk to an inspector about the problem that they’re having with the rental.
What should the tenant do? The tenant should tell the landlord, in writing, that they are not going to pay for the windows. The tenant could put in reasons why they aren’t paying (and while it might be tempting to write that you aren’t paying because the charge is ridiculous, it’s probably better to refrain). Hopefully the landlord will just go away at this point. If the landlord still insists on being paid, then there are three ways the landlord may react.
- The landlord could sue the tenant for half of the cost of the renovation. The landlord is going to have to convince a judge that the tenant should have to pay for the windows, which seems unlikely.
- The landlord could keep the security deposit when the tenant moves out. If the tenant doesn’t agree with a charge made against the security deposit, then the tenant can bring an application in Provincial Court or through the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service for return of the security deposit.
- The landlord could pass the bill to a collection agency. If the tenant is contacted by a collection agency, then the tenant can inform the agency in writing that the tenant is disputing the debt, and ask that the landlord prove the debt in court. If the tenant does that, then the collection agency cannot contact the tenant any longer. Service Alberta has a tipsheet about dealing with collection agencies.
In the meantime, the tenant might want to think about moving. If the landlord thinks that the tenant should pay for the windows, what else does he think the tenant should pay for?