News & Publications Archive

There are protections and issues which a vendor should consider when drafting a maintenance or support agreement and also when negotiating and agreeing to changes requested by a purchaser. This paper will review some of the issues that you should consider when commencing drafting or review of a maintenance and support agreement and the questions that you should ask.

B.C. Government releases report of the Scientific Review Panel on B.C. Offshore Hydrocarbon Development.

A variety of equity-based compensation plans exist for employers wishing to provide an equity-based incentive to their Canadian employees. This paper will outline the basic terms of such plans and discuss their Canadian tax implications.

The use of life insurance has been for many years a popular way to overcome the burden associated with the deemed disposition occurring immediately prior to death. This is particularly so in the context of an individual owning shares of a corporation of which he/she is the principal manager. This paper will discuss some of the options that are available for planning for the death of the shareholder under the current rules.

This paper focuses on the changes in condominium law that result in an increased work load on strata property agents, those that have the potential of increasing the liability of strata property agents in an increasing litigious world, and the steps that strata property agents or their lawyers should take to address those issues.

The conduct of a seismic exploration program, even with new low impact techniques, necessarily involves activities that can have a lasting impact on the environment. This paper provides a brief overview of the framework of environmental laws and regulation that may apply to seismic programs and associated activities, and a fuller discussion of some current and future issues that may affect seismic operations.

Newsletter from the Energy Law Group.

The heightened awareness of the significance of transportation arrangements has re-emphasized the importance of the regulatory framework governing natural gas transmission. Against this backdrop, this paper will outline the significant regulatory decisions and related events in 2001 and early 2002 affecting the regulation of natural gas pipelines in Canada.

General comments on landlords' remedies, and a review of the special considerations which arise when a tenant is insolvent or bankrupt. Because of the effect of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) and the Commercial Tenancy Act (BC), a landlord is unable to exercise many of the remedies otherwise available to it.

Newsletter from the Energy Law Group.

When it comes to buying and selling “leaky condos” most people discuss the liabilities. What buyers and sellers should also consider are the possible assets. Potential assets of a leaky condo include refunds on repair assessments, PST rebates and litigation settlements. Evaluating the potential of actually receiving these monies is critical before marketing your condominium.

The bitterness and desire for public recognition of the significant harm caused by the Chinese head tax led to a recent class action, seeking on behalf of those throughout Canada who were forced to pay the tax, as well as their surviving family members, a public apology, damages in excess of a billion dollars, and other remedies.

RTO Development.

B.C. Energy Policy - Interim Report.

A brief overview of current natural gas contracting issues (and solutions) as they pertain to Alberta buyers who are significant industrial, commercial or institutional end users, with a particular emphasis on management of the end user's gas costs. The paper thereby also provides the basis for a comparison to the similar issues confronting electricity end users.

This paper explores selected contracting issues under energy supply agreements in the context of the Alberta marketplace. For purposes of this paper, the term ‘energy supply agreement’ will be used when referring to either an energy supply agreement between a consumer and a retailer or a direct sales agreement between a buyer and a direct seller.

The corporate opportunity doctrine is a prophylactic and, some might say, restrictive rule which prohibits fiduciaries from taking for themselves or diverting to an associate or affiliate a maturing business opportunity which their beneficiary is actively pursuing, or which their beneficiary can be said to have some connection to or expectancy of, and which the beneficiary might have had an interest in pursuing had the fiduciary disclosed its existence to him or her.

This paper will focus particularly on the western Canadian venture capital market and provide an outline of a typical venture capital investment in a Canadian company including the provisions that a venture capital will ask for in a term sheet and subsequent definitive documentation.

A brief discussion of different approaches to “ethical investment” and the current status of such investment in Canada, together with a legal analysis and the obstacles to overcome if considering adoption of an ethical investment policy.