The jury sitting at the Inquest into the death of Lisa Cheryl Dudley issued a set of strong recommendations to presiding Coroner Brynne Redford yesterday.  Most of the recommendations are aimed at improving police responses to reports  of “shots fired” and other events that may involve grievous injury.   Other recommendations are aimed at improving the […]

In Bendera v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal, 2018 BCSC 552 the Supreme Court of British Columbia set aside a Tribunal decision denying a workers’ compensation claim for PTSD, finding that the decision was undermined by an “absurd” interpretation of the Workers Compensation Act. In 2013, the Tribunal had found that the worker’s PTSD was caused by […]

All of us at Ethos are exceptionally proud that Isaac Brown, Mary’s son, is featured in West Coast LEAF’s Winter 2017 LEAFlet newsletter.   Thanks for standing up for equality, Isaac!

Ethos is proud that Monique Pongracic-Speier was among the 27 lawyers appointed as Queen’s Counsel by the Attorney General of British Columbia today.  The Queen’s Counsel designation is an honorary title conferred on the members of the legal profession who are nominated by their peers, as individuals who are “learned in the law for the […]

Two days of hearings wrapped up in the Supreme Court of Canada today. Monique was proud to be part of the legal team for The Advocates’ Society!

Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre v. Charbonneau, 2017 BCCA 395 sets aside an injunction obtained by the Vancouver Aquarium against documentary film maker Gary Charbonneau and Evotion Films Inc.  The interlocutory injunction had prohibited publication of some parts of a documentary video that criticizes the Aquarium’s practice of keeping cetaceans in captivity.   The Court […]

Today, the Supreme Court of BC released a long-awaited decision in West Moberly First Nations v. British Columbia, 2017 BCSC 1700 and declared that the western boundary of the territory covered by Treaty 8 is the height of land along the continental divide between the Arctic and Pacific watersheds.  Read the judgment: 2017 BCSC 1700

It’s been 35 years since the Charter became part of the Constitution of Canada.  I’m grateful to the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association for the opportunity to reflect on the Charter decision in the Insite case in the June 2017 issue of BarTalk .