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Covid-19 Memo
Dear valued clients and business partners: At McQuarrie we care about the safety, health, and well-being of our clients and our employees. Our employees are not permitted to enter the worksite if they have COVID-like symptoms without a negative testing or have had direct exposure to someone with COVID. As a precaution, we ask you to re-schedule your appointment should any of the following apply to you: You are experiencing fever, chills, cough or worsening of chronic cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, headache, loss of sense of smell or taste, fatigue, diarrhea, loss of appetite, nausea and
The Company Owner’s Guide to B.C.’s New Transparency Register Requirements
Effective October 1, 2020, private companies governed by the British Columbia Business Corporations Act will need to maintain a transparency register listing significant individuals of the company. These new measures are a part of the B.C. government’s efforts to end hidden ownership of companies and to help counteract corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering. The new transparency register requirements are legally mandated for all B.C. private companies. Therefore, companies will need to contact their shareholders to gather information about their ownership in order to prepare their transparency registers. A basic understanding of how the transparency register requirements work and how
Demystifying Judges’ Reasons
While trial counsel cannot control the adequacy of a judge’s reasons, we can provide clarity, identify the issues and ensure there is an evidentiary record that can be reviewed on appeal if necessary. When a judge’s reasons appear inadequate, the work of trial counsel can make the difference in advancing a successful appeal. In a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Manos v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., 2020 ONCA, the Court considered the appellant’s argument that the trial judge provided inadequate reasons because he did not explicitly consider the medical evidence of the appellant’s witnesses regarding whether the respondent
Commercial Contracts and Failed Real Estate Transactions
On July 16, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application for leave to appeal involving a failed real estate transaction. In Telsec Developments Ltd v Abstak Holdings Inc, 2020 ABCA 40, the Alberta Court of Appeal provided a compendium of principles to consider in these types of cases. They are a useful reminder to anyone involved in real estate. In brief, the purchase and sale agreement contained a condition requiring the purchaser to obtain a development permit from the city by a particular date. The city did not grant the development permit. The purchaser appealed the city’s decision,
Preserve Your Wealth and Maximize Your Legacy
The hard truth about your Will is that you won’t really know if it is a good one, until it is too late to change it. By the time someone recognizes that an issue was addressed improperly, inadequately, or not at all… you will likely be deceased. “People often say they have ‘peace of mind’ after they execute estate planning documents, but too often after a person passes away, we know that was a false sense of security,” explains Elyssa Lockhart, a partner at McQuarrie and an expert in corporate succession and wealth preservation. “If a Will is drafted based
Fighting For Ellie – Long Term Disability Claim Denial
Ellie H. was a 40 year old woman working in Human Resources. She was great at what she did. Ellie was also born with spina-bifida, a condition arising during fetal/child development where the vertebrae don’t form properly around part of the spinal cord. These spinal issues have resulted in life-long chronic pain. But that never stopped her from working. She worked 20 years in the business and achieved the respect of her peers and employers. Shortly after commencing a new dream job, she became ill with an infection. This infection led to a diagnosis of chronic fatigue. And it was incapacitating. She was