Ridesharing – Eliminating Red Tape For Drivers (2019 – Revised 2020)
Ridesharing, the ability of a driver who has been through appropriate criminal record and driver safety screening to use their personal vehicle to connect with a rider via a smartphone, is a key sector in the sharing economy. Ridesharing is currently available in hundreds of cities around the world, and now in select areas of […]
Residential Tenancy Act Reform (2020)
The rules governing residential tenancies has started to strongly become one sided for the tenant and is greatly affecting a landlord’s ability to protect their property. Furthermore, housing is an issue for several cities across British Columbia and the rules, processes and procedures around residential tenancies do not encourage people to be landlords under the […]
Removing Uncertainty From Community Amenity Contributions (2020)
Community amenity contributions (CACs) are becoming a feature of development in many parts of British Columbia. Municipalities negotiate CACs from those seeking a change in zoning, in order to capture some of the boost in land values that results from a change in use or an increase in density. This practice has grown immensely in […]
Accelerating Development by Allowing for Optimum Timing of Payment of Development Cost Charges (2020)
In the Local Government Act under section 559 (4), local governments may, by bylaw, impose development cost charges (“DCC”) upon approval of subdivision, or a building permit. Specially the act states: 559 (1) A local government may, by bylaw, for the purpose described in subsection (2) or (3), impose development cost charges on every person […]
B.C. red tape frustrates legal cannabis stores’ hiring effort, boost black market
The Cannabis sector is ready to put hundreds of unemployed retail employees back to work – quickly. They’re also well positioned to generate thousands of dollars in tax revenue if they could accept online orders and deliver to your door. Unfortunately, burdensome regulations mean cannabis retailers are struggling to find workers and being forced to […]
Access to Timber Supply for Secondary Wood Producers (2020)
There are two wood processing sectors in BC, tenured and non-tenured. The tenured sector has exclusive rights to non-competitive public timber where the price of fibre is determined administratively using a formula. This sector tends to be large, consolidated, publicly owned multinationals that have access to global markets that focus on producing commodity products. The […]
Time for a New Pension Paradigm (2020)
Employees need to have confidence in their pension security to be productive and dedicated to employers over the course of their employment in Canada. In 2018, federal and provincial governments implemented important changes to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) to provide, when fully mature by 2063, retired workers a modest 33 percent of average worked […]
Improving Capital Raising Exemptions for BC Co-Operatives (2020)
There is an opportunity to increase the retention and circulation of British Columbians’ hard-earned money in our own province that will lead to meaningful job creation, increased provincial tax revenues, increased local wealth and economic resiliency. Co-operatives are democratic corporations with considerable investor protections and director accountability mechanisms built into the legislation under which they […]
One-Time Land Release From the ALR to Enable Growth in Agri-Tourism (2020)
In the Okanagan and Vancouver Island, there is an urban/rural conflict centered around ALR lands. There is less of a problem in the lower mainland, where larger farming operations continue to consolidate, primarily outside urban limits. In Kelowna, for example, 40% of the land footprint within city limits is designated ALR. While this makes for […]
Making Housing on ALR Work for Farming Families (2020)
Agriculture is a vital sector for BC and Canada, a key export for international trade and an essential staple of our economy. With growing innovation, technology and highly skilled job development in this sector, the future looks bright. Farmers and farming families across the Province, however, have faced significant challenges over the past year because […]