Bench press.

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa

A most expensive ticket

Feedblitz, a blog written by Osgoode Hall law students, reports on an Interesting B.C. case.

"A speeding ticket might not be collected through just a monetary fine any more--instead, a speeding vehicle may actually be seized and resold on the market. This scenario might seem unbelievable to the public, but remains enforceable under British Columbia's beefed-up Civil Forfeiture Act, which was amended in 2008. On September 27, two men in their early twenties were caught street racing in North Vancouver, B.C. They were accelerating at speeds up to 200km/h in a 60 km/h zone. Just prior to being stopped by the police, complaints were called in by other motorists about an 'active' dangerous street racing event and its potential harm to pedestrians. 'When a vehicle has killed or injured someone, it is too late', said Solicitor General Rich Coleman. 'Our laws now work to take vehicles away from reckless drivers before they hurt someone, because they are demonstrating no regard for the safety of themselves or others on our roads. 'Upon apprehension, both drivers were handed 15-day driving bans and their vehicles were impounded on location--a $335,000 Ferrari Scuderia and a $75,000 BMW M6. Two months after being stripped from its driver, the Ferrari was sold to a local dealership at a set price of $235,000. The proceeds would be distributed as follows: 20% to the government; 50% to the part owner who was not involved in the incident and 30% to the driver. This translates into a speeding ticket costing a minimum of $47,000. This is the first time that the law was strictly enforced at this level, and represents--to put it lightly--a most expensive speeding ticket indeed."

The Definition of a Mother

A Court of Queen's Bench justice in Saskatchewan recently ruled that a woman who gave birth to a baby girl in 2009 is not the child's mother. The child was conceived through sperm from one partner in a same-sex marriage and an ovum from an anonymous donor. "Mary" carried the baby to term. The same sex couple and Mary asked the province's Registrar of Vital Statistics to remove the birth mother's name from the child's birth certificate. Justice Jacelyn Ann Ryan-Froslie agreed. She wrote: "It is clear from the definition of 'mother' contained in the Vital Statistics Act 2009, that Mary, the gestational carrier, is Sarah's mother for the purposes of that act as she is the woman from whom Sarah was delivered. Naming her as Sarah's mother...