Canadian Lawyer

34 F e b r u A r y 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m commitment to uphold just and considered legislation. But in terms of this law and his own compliance: "I am going to have to exercise a Charter right to not incriminate myself." EMPLOYMENT LAW W e of the north long to escape too-long winters for sun and swimming, and that much- needed statutory two-week vacation should be fun and simple. Not. Patrizia Piccolo, of Toronto's Rubin Thomlinson LLP, receives weekly calls from confused employ- ers about the Ontario Employment Standards Act. Employees earn their two weeks after one year at work, but often expect time off within their first year. And so it's common for employers to ignore the act. Vacation (and vacation pay) can be accrued with each paycheque if everyone involved agrees — but that can lead to confusion in the payroll department when dif- ferent workers want different options. And what of terminations: "Are we going to make them pay it back?" asks Piccolo. Plus there's the confusion over the vacation pay of employees offered more than two weeks. Piccolo says until the Ontario Employment Standards Act vacation provisions are amended to reflect current practices, employers should craft clear employment con- tracts and publish clear policy guide- lines relating to vacation entitlements in excess of the statutory minimums. And then buy a bathing suit. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW W hile on vacation, it's bad form to leave rubbish in someone else's neighbourhood. But Montreal lawyer Yvan Biron, of Lavery de Billy, is just as concerned with what's missing in his homegrown Loi sur la qualité de l'environnement, Quebec's environmen- tal quality act. He wants more detailed standards for wastewater. While larger municipalities such as Montreal have set their own rules, many smaller cities and towns have never bothered. "We are not as green as we think we are," says Biron. The lack of tough standards for wastewater — for indus- try, agriculture, and municipal water purification plants — is a "big, big hole." Interestingly, Biron says industries such as pulp and paper have spent time and money greening up their wastewa- ter runoff. Agricultural producers lag behind. More generally, he says, indi- viduals are awful litterbugs; per capita garbage output has gone up in Quebec. It seems we notice trash elsewhere, but not in our own overflowing garbage bins. Letcher Akelaitis LLP's Gary Letcher in Vancouver wants nothing less than to jumpstart a conversation between gov- ernment, industry, and green activists to create a new environmental frame- work for the 21 st century. The exist- ing legal patchwork stitches up wonky scraps of various vintages into an ugly mess: "It's time, in a consistent way, to look at environmental law," and make some clear-eyed decisions. Letcher cites British Columbia's clean-up standards for contaminated sites. How much of an expense is justi- fied? A clean-up could cost $1 million. That same amount could fund 10 new hospital beds. What's the better choice? he asks. Finding a balance will take time and talk. ABORIGINAL LAW T he relationship between the Crown and Aboriginal Peoples is a constitutionally mandated knot. Governments have a duty to con- sult with First Nations when pro- posed projects may impact land and resources claimed by aboriginals. Adrienne Mercer, who practises in the St. John's office of McInnes Cooper, notes the Crown often delegates that duty to proponents — that is, to hydro-electric com- panies, wind farmers, mining cor- porations, and others. But, Mercer says drily, "the extent of that con- sultation is not always clear." In Newfoundland and the other Atlantic provinces, there are no useful guidelines to help both sides tease out the tangle together. And so with expectations all over the place, negotiations can last "mul- tiple, multiple years," she says, causing her industry clients to sometimes sim- ply give up and walk away. When it comes to negotiations, Jerome Slavik, of Ackroyd LLP in Edmonton, might be said to be on the other side of the table. He is appalled by the federal Specific Claims Tribu- nal Act. The tribunal is billed as an independent adjudicator to speed the resolution of First Nations claims, and to consider claims that may have lapsed. If only the tribunal worked. "After six years of operation, the government has undermined this low-cost expeditious forum, it's even longer and more expen- sive than going through the courts, and very few decisions have been rendered. The whole thing set us back 10 years." One of Slavik's clients has spent 15 years and $1 million trying to settle a claim. The legislation must be redrafted to "prevent the Crown from abusing the process," and more money and resources are needed, he suggests. Indeed, in his 2014 annual report, tribunal chairman Justice Harry A. Slade noted that as of the time of writing, he was the only full-time member: Without additional assistance, Slade wrote, "The Tribunal will fail." TAX LAW C algary tax lawyer Patrick Lindsay, of Wilson and Partners LLP, was forced to relitigate a case won some 30 years ago, but the federal revenue agency didn't seem to care. It's just not filling a need, it's just a lonely little act. Bruce Green, Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala

• Cover