A city changes a bylaw, two parks get added to a no-camping list, and suddenly the real question isn’t “is this fair?” but “who has the legal power to decide?” We walk through a fresh BC Supreme Court decision on Victoria’s park camping restrictions, including why the court treats the amendment as legislation, not a mere policy tweak. That single classification reshapes the whole case: instead of weighing reasonableness, the court asks whether the City has authority under the Community Charter to pass the bylaw at all and answers yes.

We also dig into the Charter section 7 backdrop from the 2009 Adams decision, where a blanket prohibition can become unconstitutional if there aren’t enough shelter spaces and people are forced to sleep outside. The ruling doesn’t end the broader homelessness and public space debate, but it clarifies what needs to be proven and by whom. A “free-floating” challenge without an affected person is a tough fit, while a future case with evidence of no realistic place to shelter could bring the constitutional issue back in a concrete way.

Then we pivot to two fast, practical legal lessons. First, the BC Court of Appeal orders a new trial in a sexual assault case after the trial judge relied on prior consistent statements, a common credibility trap where repetition gets mistaken for proof. Finally, the Supreme Court of Canada interprets Charter section 16(2) on New Brunswick’s official languages and holds that appointing a unilingual lieutenant governor breaches the Charter, with implications for how we think about bilingualism and constitutional offices.

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Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A public servant gives three decades to the province, then gets fired without cause on the very day a government is about to fall. The BC Supreme Court doesn’t just disagree with how it was handled, it finds the termination was politically motivated and meant to turn a non-partisan employee into a convenient scapegoat. We talk through what that finding really means in wrongful dismissal law, why the court awards significant punitive damages, and how the decision sends a clear warning that public servants are not political props.

We also dig into the details that should make any listener who pays taxes pay attention: severance that appears to be legally owed gets withheld for months while pressure is applied to sign away the right to sue. Then we step back and ask the uncomfortable question about accountability, because the defendant isn’t a political party, it’s the Crown in right of British Columbia, meaning the costs and damages come out of the public purse. We also examine why a current government might still choose to deny improper motive and defend the case all the way through a long trial.

From there, we shift to estate law in British Columbia and a fascinating WESA section 58 “curative provision” case about wills. A couple plans mirror wills with a lawyer, but the woman dies before signing and the only pre-death draft carries the partner’s name, while a corrected version is created after death. We explain what counts as a reliable “record” of testamentary intentions, why judges can cure some defects but cannot validate a will based only on what people say happened, and what this means for anyone who has been putting off their estate planning.

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Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.

A million-dollar poker run sounds like the ultimate loophole, until the CRA decides it looks like a job. We talk with criminal defence lawyer Michael Mulligan about a Supreme Court of Canada leave decision that leaves standing a key ruling on poker winnings and Canadian income tax, and the real lesson it carries for anyone who treats gambling like a serious side hustle or a full-time living.

We get into why most gambling winnings in Canada are generally tax-free under the Income Tax Act, then zero in on the exception: when the activity becomes business income. Hours spent, strategy, risk management, consistent profits, and relying on poker as your main source of income can all push you over the line. And if it’s business income, it can cut both ways, because deductions for losses and expenses may be available just like any other business.

Then we shift to a topic that frustrates the public and the courts alike: criminal cases that take too long. We unpack Jordan’s hard timelines under Charter section 11(b), what counts as delay, and how the Supreme Court now treats “exceptionally complex” prosecutions with many accused and mountains of disclosure.

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Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.