Western Law hosted a forum on pension reform this past Thursday, featuring community leaders, legal academics, and practitioners.

Pension Plan Basics

Prof. Robert Brown of the University of Waterloo explained some of the basics behind pensions.

There are two kinds of pension plans, defined benefit and defined contribution plans. A defined benefit plan provides flat benefits at a specified amount per year of work. They can present a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of benefits, but if investments are hit hard it can decrease amount of funds, and they are often open to the vagaries of . . . [more]

As reported by the CBC, the British Columbia government has introduced legislation that would empower Richmond, Vancouver and Whistler, for the months of February and March in 2010, to act swiftly to remove graffiti or signs that contravene their bylaws. Critics are worried that the law would catch anti-Olympics protesters and infringe their right to free speech.

The provisions causing concern are part of Bill 13 — 2009: Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2009. S.77 of the bill would amend the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act (No. 3), S.B.C. 2001, c. 44, by adding four sections that . . . [more]

This week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced its approval of revisions to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The revisions affect testimonial advertisements (including those by consumers and those advertising atypical results), blogger reviews or endorsements, and celebrity endorsements, updating the Guides since their last revision in 1980.

Of particular note: the discussion of consumer-generated media, and how to distinguish between communications that are “endorsements” and those that are not. The FTC focused on determination on a case-by-case basis of whether the relationship between the speaker is such that the speaker’s statement can be . . . [more]

In the privacy community, there has been a debate over whether it is lawful, under PIPEDA, for a custodian of personal information to provide customer information when then police come knocking. The debate has been most heated in the arena of internet service providers customer names and addresses to the police when presented with an IP address. PIPEDA allows a number of disclosures of personal information without consent pursuant to Section 7(3) of the statute. One exception to the general rule relates directly to law enforcement requests:

Disclosure without knowledge or consent

(3) For the purpose of clause 4.3

(note: what follows is a gross misrepresentation of HADOPI, and is just for entertainment, but it is fun to dream…)

The French Government is about to lose access to the internet. The second violation of copyright by Sarkozy and his party could result in the suspension of internet services to the Government by their ISP. Considering the government to be “members of the same household” as the President and his political party, one pundit declared

It is impossible for the courts not to acquiesce to this argument, thus denying themselves and the rest of the government access to the

Google Street View has finally gone live in Canada. According to the CBC story, Street View is available now in “much of the Greater Toronto Area and in Vancouver and the surrounding area, north to Whistler and east to Chilliwack, B.C. . . . Hamilton, Ont., Kitchener and Waterloo, Ont., Ottawa, Windsor, Calgary, Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise, Montreal and the surrounding area, Quebec City, and Halifax.”

Let the privacy complaints begin! . . . [more]

. . . pretty much.

Amazon announced today that Kindle now comes in an international version that will be released on October 19. For US$279 you get the e-book reader and the ability to download books with “international wireless.”

Except that it is still unavailable in Canada.

Cape Verde (the next country on the dropdown list), yes.

But Canada, no. All of which makes my refusal to buy one on aesthetic grounds kind of meaningless. Sigh.

Clearly this is the result of an inability to strike the necessary deals with copyright groups in this country. It would be good to . . . [more]

This week was all about looking out vs looking in … navel gazing vs naval gazing, if you will. Let’s spiral in:

Starting all the way in India, we noted concerns that acquisition of Indian companies could lead to higher prices for generic drugs but speculated about some offsetting goo.

Also in India, a story about Glenmark Pharmaceuticals showed how they turned reliable revenue streams into a remarkable focus on innovation, something Canada needs to do as well in the coming years.

A little closer to home, a short article I wrote for Counsel to Counsel Magazine got me . . . [more]

David Bilinsky mentioned it in passing back in August: there are calls for increased civility amongst lawyers. On September 24th, the Law Society of Upper Canada announced Civility Complaints Protocols Established.

According to the press release,

The [Civility Complaints] protocols provide a procedure for trial judges and justices of the peace to refer incidents of misconduct to the Law Society. They also provide for a new process whereby judges can request that lawyers receive mentoring from a panel of senior members of the bar. The mentor will meet with the lawyer to discuss the conduct in question

Sometimes it actually hurts to be right.

If you’ve followed any of my earlier comments on twitter, in the media, or in this space on Slaw (Ontario’s New Road Safety Act) you will be familiar with my growing predictions that Canada is moving towards legalized random breath alcohol testing. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the timeline for such a draconian measure would be a mere six months.

Yet, today’s National Post (Sunday October 4, 2009) is reporting that the Federal Department of Justice is considering exactly such an amendment.

As you weigh the pros and cons . . . [more]

Scottish authorities released the Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review on September 30. This was a far-reaching review designed to modernize the Scottish system of civil justice. The extensive Report is available in two PDF files; as well, there is a synopsis [PDF] available. . . . [more]

Today, October 2, 2009, is the last day of Right to Know Week in Canada.

Right to Know Week was originally started in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2002 as a result of a meeting of Access to Information Commissioners from around the world. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the necessity of access to information in democratic societies. This is the fourth year that it has been formally recognized in Canada and it has started to pick up momentum. The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada set up a website at righttoknow.ca to detail the many events that were . . . [more]