Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A P R I L 2 0 1 6 11 In making the announcement earlier this year, federal Minister of Transport Marc Garneau noted Canada poses special challenges for a computer-operated vehicle: "We in Canada have to make judgment calls in the winter time when we're on icy roads and black ice. So that's got to be part of it as well because they're not all nice California roads." It just happens that California is among the leaders in regulating autonomous-vehicle use on public highways. Several other U.S. states also have regulations in place as do a number of European and Asian countries, where on-road testing is also underway. In California, autonomous cars are now operating on public roads but under fairly strict controls. Two engineers have to be in the vehicle at all times, says Doyle. "Even though the vehicle may be driving itself, there's an engineer in the front seat and one in the back . . . . the one in the front can take control if something should happen." In late February, one of Google's autonomous test cars, even though it had the required two engineers on board, had a slight collision. It brushed a bus in the company's hometown of Mountain View, Calif., where a lot of on-road testing takes place. It was not the first auto-driven Google car that has had a scrape, but it was the first incident for which Google acknowledged at least partial fault. This acknowledgment plays nicely into a recent clarification by the body that governs vehicle regulation in the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which, in February, announced that computers used to pilot self-driving cars can be consid- ered "a driver" under federal law. The legal implications of this are huge in the development of vehicles that could make human drivers obsolete. The case law on driverless vehicles in Canada is slim. An interesting case can be found in a 1964 ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal. In Wright v. McCrea, it is found that a per- son or persons unknown put a parked bulldozer into motion, which, with no one at the controls, collided with a house. The court ruled that the person who puts a vehicle into motion is responsible for the consequences of that motion. It seems inevitable that over the next few years the case law on this issue will grow significantly as society, Parlia- ment, the courts, and the legal profession try to figure who — or what — is in the driver's seat. — GEOFF ELLWAND writerlaw@gmail.com V ancouver lawyer Reece Harding, with Young Anderson Barristers, which works closely with many municipali- ties, says British Columbia is suffering from a legislative vacuum in its Community Charter that fails to provide a mechanism allowing councils to deal with elected officials who behave badly. "It seems like there is a need today," says Harding, who points to more governance challenges on how these conflicts can hamstring a council from functioning. He says while there are no numbers available, many believe the incidents of poor conduct are increasing and there is a need for a code of conduct and the establishment of an integrity commissioner's office able to resolve conflicts in an unbiased manner. In a paper Harding wrote, with research associate Emily McClendon, he cites several instances over a 90-day period in 2015. Examples in "Open Season on Integrity: Hunting for the Right Solution for BC" include: Four out of seven Lantzville, B.C. council members resigning, leaving the council without enough members to convene a meeting; a White Rock, B.C. councillor who was censured after publishing comments the city lawyers considered defamatory; volunteer firefighters who complained the Chase, B.C. mayor was bullying them; a Pouce Coupe, B.C. mayor wanting the RCMP to intervene in an ongoing dispute with a former elected official; and the Saanich, B.C. mayor admitting he misled the media about an extramarital affair and subsequently made complaints of misconduct against police and city hall staff. "There are many more of these kinds of incidents if you dig deeper," says Harding. The problem facing B.C. municipalities is that there is no middle ground for resolving and disciplining errant elected officials. The two existing mechanisms include cen- sure proceedings or the severe measure of applying to the courts B.C. NEEDS CODE OF CONDUCT FOR POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY Continued on page 12 \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP Clifford Johnson, QC, ICD.D Energy Group Leader fieldlaw.com "Field Law" is a trademark and trade name of Field LLP. When the going gets tough, the tough double down and expand to meet your more complex needs—at good value. Doubling Down for our Energy Clients Untitled-2 1 2016-03-17 10:57 AM

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