BC LAW INSTITUTE

By Tejas Madhur*

Remembering Mat Good

We begin our update on a sad note by remembering our longstanding board member Mat Good. Mat died on April 27, 2023. He was first appointed to the board of the BC Law Institute (“BCLI”) by the CBABC in 2017. Over his six years on the board, Mat was a member of the Executive, Audit and Program committees. He was also our vice-chair. His enthusiasm and commitment to BCLI were extraordinary, and his passing is a great loss to BCLI and to the legal community in British Columbia. We send our condolences to Mat’s family and all those who were closest to him.

Welcoming Pension Division Reforms

We were pleased to see that the recommendations in a BCLI report were incorporated into Bill 17 in the B.C. legislature in March. This bill introduces amendments to part 6 of the Family Law Act that implement BCLI’s recommendations on pension division reforms for separating spouses. These recommendations were published in our 2021 Report on Pension Division: A Review of Part 6 of the Family Law Act. They build on contributions of our Pension Division Review Committee, which spent two years generating these recommendations. Bill 17 addresses transitional provisions; private annuities; disability benefits; waiving survivor benefits after pension commencement; commuted value; transfer and calculation; and locked-in retirement accounts and life income funds.

UNDERSTANDING OUR “RENOVATE THE PUBLIC HEARINGS” PROJECT – AN INTERVIEW WITH PROJECT COMMITTEE CHAIR, BRUCE WOOLLEY

BCLI has always relied on volunteers from legal and expert communities to help us with our work. Earlier this year, we established our Renovate the Public Hearings Project committee. This project brings new opportunities for BCLI, as we are committed to conducting a Reconciliation and Community Listening Exploration Series in parallel with the deliberations of the committee. We are grateful to Bruce Woolley, who has volunteered to chair this committee. We sat down with Bruce to talk to him about this project, and his work.

Bruce Woolley graduated from UBC law school in 1978 and was called to the bar in 1979. He has specialized in real estate, spending the last 45 years working both for law firms and as in-house counsel for Expo 86, Cominco, BC Enterprise Corporation and the Bank of Bermuda (now HSBC). Over the course of his career, he has represented the Real Estate Council of BC, now part of the BC Financial Services Authority. He has also represented the B.C. government in treaty negotiations with Indigenous peoples and has contributed to the development and implementation of the four modern treaties. This past term, Bruce taught Property Law at Allard Hall, where he also taught from 1988 to 1997, and has also taught for the Sauder School of Business Real Estate Division, and various real estate boards.

Our communications manager, Taja De Silva, sat down with Bruce. Here is a summary of their conversation.

Why is there a need to “renovate” public hearings?

Laws should reflect public needs and realities. When they no longer represent the public interest, the next step is to start thinking about law reform. This is a milestone we have now reached with public hearings under local government legislation in British Columbia.

The intended purpose of the public hearings process was to create a forum for the public to communicate with local governments on proposed rezoning bylaws that regulate land use, allowing local governments to gauge the public’s concerns and support. However, unresolved procedural issues have made public hearings unhelpful at times to both local communities and governments. Some of these issues involve timeliness and cost efficiency, whether the process is truly democratic and whether the process adds substantially to the resolution of the rezoning issue.

Rezoning of land use often raises important and contentious community issues. People who are truly affected by rezonings ought to be properly heard and their concerns addressed. We need to make sure that public hear- ings are democratic and serve their intended purpose. This means responding to public criticisms with a coherent push towards meaningful reform. What inspired you

to commit to chairing BCLI’s Renovate the Public Hearings Committee?

BCLI has deep roots in our province, with its provenance being the Law Reform Commission of BC. Since that time, BCLI has been an important agent for change. BCLI has written many excellent reports, many of which I use in my teaching. BCLI’s Report on Section 29(2) of the Land Title Act and Notice of Unregistered Interests, for example, has been incredibly helpful to many of my students. I am delighted to have a part in BCLI’s work and I see this as a continuation of the great work of the Law Reform Commission.

My experience gives me a good perspective on these issues. It also affords me a unique opportunity to make meaningful contributions to law reform and to collaborate with a group of exceptionally caring, intelligent and motivated individuals brought together by BCLI.

What are you hoping this project will change or achieve?

Public hearings need to be both democratic and efficient in their approach. My hope is that the Renovate the Public Hearings Committee will create a series of concrete recommendations that accurately describe and identify necessary improvements, outline how improvements should be implemented and develop a better way to engage the public and reduce predevelopment risk and barriers to housing.

With the helpful emphasis on research and collaboration that BCLI brings to law reform, I expect that this project committee will be a good forum for coming up with solutions. Our final report will reflect the views of the committee as a whole.

What is unique about the perspective and expertise that you bring to the project?

While my deep understanding of real estate and property law will certainly guide how I approach the topic of reform for public hearings, it is the broad scope of what I have learned over 45 years of legal practice that I expect to be of most use to the committee. This background has taught me the importance of the rule of law, fairness, balancing viewpoints and considering all perspectives.

I have done a lot of project work throughout my career and what I have learned is to aim for success before you think about barriers or obstacles to avoid. In light of this, the committee’s main objective is to look for solutions. When I was supporting the completion of the four modern treaties or working on transitioning the Bank of Bermuda to HSBC, I knew that problems were bound to arise. I found that the best way to mitigate the impact of these problems is to centre solutions around opportunity.

You have important experience working to support Indigenous self-government. How will that experience be aiding you in this role?

I worked on the implementation of all four of the modern treaties on behalf of the province. I have a deep interest in Indigenous legal issues, and I know that Indigenous land use issues are unresolved and of deep importance. As we work toward reconciliation, it is important that we remain aware of how Indigenous considerations must contribute to law reform. These considerations are part of how we look to develop our recommendations as a committee. Something as simple as rezoning can have impacts on Indigenous peoples and any level of impact needs to be strongly considered by the committee. Aligning B.C. legislation with Indigenous governance is central to the committee’s goal to create a new and democratic approach to public hearings because democracy must also include Indigenous voices.

Is

there anything else you would like to share?

It is a pleasure and an honour to be involved in a BCLI project. I would strongly encourage all lawyers to participate in some way as a volunteer in the legal profession, whether at BCLI, the Law Society or another field of interest.