Canadian Lawyer

8 M A R C H 2 0 1 6 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP Juripop launches action against Uber D uring the latest New Year's Eve festivities, many a partygoer got hit with a sky-high Uber bill. All over the country people were charged the price of a plane ticket for a ride across town, not realizing Uber's "price surging" policy meant rates can be as much as eight or nine times the normal when demand is high and offer is low, as it can be on New Year's Eve. Riders faced charges of hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of dollars for rides that would have cost a fraction in a regular taxi. In most cases, the customer had a few drinks, was tired after partying into the wee hours of the morning, and was in no shape to pull out a calculator to evaluate the projected cost of the ride. Angry citizens' complaints were echoed in the media. Some demanded govern- ment action. Uber defended itself by claiming its system repeatedly notified the riders on their mobiles about the pricing and asked them each time to confirm and accept increased fares. In Montreal, non-profit legal organiza- tion Juripop, which provides legal services to the not-rich-enough-to-afford-legal- representation-but-not-poor-enough-to- access-legal-aid, decided to sue Uber in the name of a number of customers. It says it is ready to file a class action if necessary. You have to pay a small membership fee to be represented by Juripop. This action drew criticism for what some considered a waste of precious and rare legal resources for the poor for the benefit of young well-to-do irresponsible partygoers. Juripop responded that the issue was one of public interest. Charging astronomical prices that were so out of proportion with the value of the service provided violates Quebec's consumer pro- tection laws. It is equivalent to exploitation, the law says. This legal protection is contained in both the Civil Code and the Loi sur la pro- tection du consommateur and is unique in the world, said the general manager and the chairman of the board of Juripop in a letter published in the media. It might seem wrong to the supporter of the strict application of the supply and demand the- ory, but it is the law in Quebec, they wrote. "Without our help, all the people who have contacted us would have abandoned their rights and dropped their claims. It is thus, as is too often the case, a matter of access to Justice and our goal is to give our mem- bers the possibility to defend their rights, no matter what their claim is." — PASCAL ELIE pascalelie636@gmail.com SNAGS DOG IMMIGRATION WEB SITE S ince the agreement of 1991 with the federal government, Quebec has been choosing its own immigrants. It is the only province to do so. Nor- mally, an economic immigration candidate has to submit a paper appli- cation by mail, but this being the digital age, it seemed obvious a new procedure was needed to improve the process. Paper is out, electronic files are in: On Jan. 5, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration launched its "Mon projet Qué- bec" web site for all applications for the regular skilled worker program. Paper forms are no longer accepted, only online applications. The problems are many. To start with, only 150 users can connect simulta- neously to the site, which is visited by millions around the world. Initially, the candidates had until Jan. 18 to submit their online applica- tion on the web site, but according to Jean-Sébastien Boudreault, president of the Association Québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l'immigration, it took between 10 and 18 hours to file the electronic form. The government pushed the date to Feb. 16 in order to improve the site's capacity. "It's going be crazy," Boudreault told Canadian Lawyer. Only a fraction of applications will be accepted for review, on a first-come-first-served basis. La Presse reported that the government has invested about $900,000 in an earlier version of the system that was subsequently abandoned. It started again from scratch, but now it appears the new version is over budget and cannot handle the demand. In 2014, the system's development was so problematic that all applications were stalled for about a year and a half. Boudreault, a seasoned immigration lawyer with the Laval law firm Alepin Gauthier, says the association of Quebec immigration lawyers was scheduled to be heard in February by a Quebec parliamentary commission studying a bill introducing a new selection procedure. The new legislation, designed to speed up the process, is similar to the federal one, which was enacted by the Harper government and which introduced a system of "expression of interest." It is a system that asks candidates to provide information about their attri- butes, such as their skills, work experience, and investment capacity. They have to motivate their desire to immigrate to get an invitation from the host country. Boudreault says it gives the minister large discretionary power that lacks trans- parency. The risk is that the selection criteria will be arbitrary. The actual point system, by which one gets automatic points for attributes such as education, language, work experience, etc., is clearer and fairer. Boudreault expects the law will probably be voted in before the end of the year. Whichever system prevails, one should think an application touting soft- ware-designing skills would lead to a fast invitation. — PE C E N T R A L

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