Olympic gold medallist snowboarder Ross Rebagliati plans to launch a string of medical marijuana stores branded Ross' Gold and then sell franchises depending on his stores' success, Rebagliati told Business in Vancouver January 23. Rebagliati won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in snowboarding in 1998 and was temporarily stripped of that medal after testing positive for the active ingredient in marijuana, THC. He aims to open a flagship store in Whistler this spring and then roll out secondary storefronts in Vancouver and Toronto. [continues 259 words]
Victoria set for record year auctioning items seized via the province's proceeds of crime legislation The B.C. government plans to increasingly hit Lower Mainland gang members in the pocketbook, according to B.C.'s solicitor general. "We're going to ramp up civil forfeiture here in B.C. and put more resources into civil forfeiture proceedings," B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed told Business in Vancouver in an exclusive interview. A key target will be marijuana grow-ops. Experts estimate that B.C.'s marijuana trade employs 150,000 people and generates double the roughly $3 billion that BCStats says forestry annually contributes to the provincial economy. [continues 520 words]
Get It In Writing To Help Avoid Entangling Your Business In A Complex Debate Over Employee Conduct, Urges Lawyer Employers who want to create a safe workplace should write a code of conduct for employees and - importantly - have all staff sign to confirm that they've read the document. That's the verdict of Patricia Gallivan. The Lawson Lundell LLP lawyer warned that employers who believe common sense and oral instruction are sufficient in guiding workplace behaviour could be in for a serious surprise. [continues 540 words]
New security measures may include criminal records check and a screen by CSIS but will ultimately allow access for ships that might have been otherwise banned Teamwork between private companies, the Vancouver Port Authority and government agencies has helped toughen security at the Port of Vancouver during the past few years. The co-operation is timely in an era where preventing terrorist attacks, illegal immigration and drug smuggling is increasingly important. Without strict port security here, shipping companies could bypass Vancouver because they would fear that their ships could be banned from entering other ports. [continues 691 words]
Conservative Party Justice Critic Charges That It Would Create Another Cumbersome And Expensive Layer In An Already Ineffective Justice System One of Canada's best known justice critics is slamming a proposal to create a Vancouver community court to fix the city's rampant street crime problem. Abbotsford MP and Conservative justice critic Randy White's concerns come despite extensive buy-in for the new court that Attorney General Wally Oppal calls both "revolutionary" and "workable." Health-care professionals, social workers, police, lawyers and chief judges of both the B.C. Supreme Court and B.C. Provincial Court lined up to support the B.C. Justice Review Task Force's street crime working group recommendations when the committee released its 134-page report October 12. [continues 648 words]
Diverse Array Of Interests Marks B.C.'s Freshest Crop Of New Lawyers Hundreds of well dressed guests sit in temporary chairs under the sloping glass roof of the Vancouver Law Courts. They've heard inspiring speeches about new beginnings and long roads ahead, and they now gaze up to the six tiers of ivy-covered concrete that rise above the law courts' lobby as they await the end of a long droning list of names. It could only be the call and admission ceremony where new lawyers are accepted to the B.C. bar. [continues 658 words]
Best Defence Against Renting To Pot Growers Is Extra Vigilance New landlords are justified in feeling a bit anxious after seeing police bust countless marijuana grow operations on the nightly news. The busts are such a common sight that the Vancouver Police Department named its anti-pot squad Growbusters. Officers systematically obtain search warrants, go to the suspected grow-op and place a sandwich board sign outside that says "Growbusters work in progress," explained VPD spokesperson Sarah Bloor. In 2003, Growbusters barged into 350 homes. Their entry tactics often cause damage to the house, and grief for investment-property owners. Landlords also have reason to worry about fires starting, thanks to botched rewiring by tenants wanting to power halogen lights, said Harmon Hayden, a partner at the law firm Watson Goepel Maledy. [continues 574 words]
Staff as well as employers bear responsibility to recognize the problem and deal with it Employers have long known that addressing the problem of employee addiction is not as easy as saying "you're fired." But recent court and arbitration decisions are increasingly reminding addicted employees that they too have a responsibility to get over their addiction, said Ogilvy Renault partner Delayne Sartison. The pendulum of responsibility is shifting back toward the addicted employee, she said, stressing that employers still must accommodate employees with addictions. [continues 564 words]
Spotting symptoms may be easy; solution not as simple as firing the addicted employee It's sometimes easy to spot employees with substance abuse or other addictions, but the challenge of what to do next can often stump employers. The solution is not as easy as saying, "You're fired." Human rights law prohibits employment discrimination based on disability, and the law has firmly established that drug addiction is a disability, said Earl Phillips, McCarthy Tetrault's Vancouver-based national practice group leader for labour and employment law. [continues 608 words]
