The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1426259
UPFRONT 6 www.canadianlawyermag.com NEWS BRIEFS Saskatchewan court clarifies subcontractors on public highway jobs can invoke Builders' Lien Act Ruling allows subcontractors to feel confident about imposing liens to secure payment rights A RECENT Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decision makes it easier for subcon- tractors on provincial infrastructure projects to feel confident that, if necessary, they can impose a builders' lien on the contractors they are working for to secure their rights in getting paid for their work. "The [Saskatchewan] Builders' Lien Act ensures that parties who contribute work or materials to a construction project are paid for their services, while also providing secu- rity and predictability for owners," says MLT Aikins LLP lawyer, Josh Morrison. His firm acted in Regina Bypass Design Builders v Supreme Steel on behalf of Supreme Steel LP, which refused to vacate a lien it had served Regina Bypass Design Builders. "This deci- sion provides clarity." The case stems from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure contract with SGTP Highway Bypass Limited Partnership to design, construct, and manage the Regina Bypass Project, which entailed the construction of 12 overpasses, 40km of new highway and 55km of new service roads. After SGTP retained Regina Bypass Design Builders (RBDB) to take on the project, RBDB, in turn, retained Supreme Steel to fabricate, supply, deliver and install the steel Saskatchewan Court of Appeal clarifies definition of 'highly vulnerable' victims The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal reduced an offender's sentence in a case that clarifies the definition of a "highly vulnerable" victim in a robbery. In R v Charles, the court considered the victim's employment in determining the degree of susceptibility to being robbed. According to the court, people just casually walking down the street in the middle of the night cannot be considered "highly vulnerable" to robbery. The victims, in this case, were not required by their employment to be in a situation where they are susceptible to being robbed, so they cannot be considered as "highly vulnerable" to impose a higher degree of penalty against the offender, the judge ruled. Manitoba lawyers can now offer services through civil society organizations The Law Society of Manitoba has approved a registration system allowing lawyers to offer their professional services to the public as volunteers, employees, or independent contractors of charities and not-for-profit corporations. Registered charities under the Income Tax Act (Canada), not-for-profit corporations incorporated under Manitoba laws and not-for-profit corporations allowed under Manitoba laws to operate in the province can now apply for registration as a civil society organization. Upon approval, a hired, contracted or volunteer lawyer will provide on-site legal services at no cost to the organization's clients. Manitoba appeal court sets aside claw-back of social assistance to CERB recipient Manitoba's highest court has set aside a Manitoba Social Services Appeal Board decision that had earlier confirmed the province was correct to claw back benefits from the recipient of a social service who had applied for and was given the Canada Emergency Response Benefit following the COVID-19 outbreak. The Court of Appeal ruled that the CERB money in question should have been exempted from the benefit calculation of social services recipient, Nigel Cann, because it is an allowable "liquid asset" and not part of his regular income, as it was a one-time payment. Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench rules out-of-province First Nations hunters need licences The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench has reversed a 2019 lower court ruling that says First Nations people from Ontario could hunt in the provinces without licences. In the appeal of the original Provincial Court decision in R v Green, Justice Graeme Mitchell held only members of First Nations that have adhered to Treaties 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 10 can hunt without a provincial licence. The case goes back to 2018, when Albert Green and Blair Hill, members of the Six Nations First Nation in Ontario, hunted for food in a Saskatchewan provincial park. The park is considered occupied Crown land with a right of access for Saskatchewan's Indigenous population. Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench judge rules daughter get COVID-19 vaccine A 13-year-old daughter must be vaccinated for COVID-19, a Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled, agreeing with the father's position that it is in the child's best interests to receive the vaccine and rejecting the arguments of the mother. The latter does not want her daughter vaccinated. In O.M.S v E.J.S., Justice Michael Megaw ruled, "the best interests of this child operate in favour of an order directing that the father shall be entitled to have the child vaccinated for the Covid-19 virus." WEST UPDATE