December 27 2023

articles

Solving the Water Crisis On Reserve

Written by Katłı̨̀ą (Catherine) Lafferty

Whether it be collecting water from the lake on an early morning after a fresh summer rain or chipping three feet of ice to get to the water in the frigid northern air under the northern lights, hauling water is nothing new to many First Nations people who once lived and still strive to live primarily off the land yet when First Nations were forced onto reserve systems back in the 1830’s problems with plumbing systems began immediately and have not let up since.

The reserve system left First Nations with no choice but to utilize the services that were imposed onto them without their consent or input into the infrastructure that would be provided. Many First Nation communities are located next to freshwater lakes yet can’t even access the water in their own backyard for potable use and instead have to have it trucked in from facilities off reserve even though they have relied on those direct water sources well before colonial contact. Furthering this problem, the standard guidelines for safe drinking water on most reserves has never been close to being met due to poor funding allocation for water services, now a newly proposed Act Respecting Water, Source Water, Drinking Water, Wastewater and Related Infrastructure on First Nation Lands(Act)proposes to change this by bringing water quality standards up to – at the very minimum – meeting the guidelines set out for safe drinking water with the rest of the country.

On December 11, 2023, the draft Act or Bill C-61 was introduced in Parliament with acknowledgement of a critical emphasis on consultation with First Nations. The development of the bill was drafted with Indigenous rights holders including the Assembly of First Nations.

The bill was prompted out of the 2021 class action litigation settlement on drinking water advisories in First Nation communities which resulted in $8-billion-dollars in compensation when the government admitted to breaching its obligations by failing to ensure that reserves have clean drinking water. Being that the federal government is accountable for the infrastructure on reserve this triggered the need for the government to respond to First Nations needs across the country. The settlement funding is divided into specific terms including $1.5 billion in compensation for First Nation individuals deprived of clean drinking water, $6 billion to support reliable access to safe drinking water on reserve and $20 million to support the creation of a First Nations Advisory Committee among other commitments.

The Indigenous led First Nations Water Commission born out of the settlement will be filled until 2026 and comprise of First Nation’s representatives reflecting diversity and inclusivity. The primary functions of the commission will be to provide oversight, guidance and recommendation to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) for the long-term strategy of water and wastewater on reserve under the development of the newly proposed legislation. This is an important move as ISC has insurmountably failed to bring solutions to First Nations at every turn partly because they are not in the position to determine needs. ISC representatives do not have the experience of living without access to clean water.

Shortly after the announcement of the proposed legislation the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) in Saskatchewan publicly declared that the legislation would not be enough to prevent future crises. Chief Bobby Cameron explicitly stated that the federal water act is not true reconciliation but rather an attempt to legalize the status quo which has raised questions around co-development. Now the government is back tracking to redesign their approach to the Act to strengthen their consultation efforts with Indigenous stakeholders stating that they will work towards ensuring that all voices are heard. One of the problems with the practice of rolling out proposed bills that have the potential to impact Indigenous peoples rights is that there are so many that its hard to stay on top of each one which means they do not necessarily reach Indigenous peoples with lived experience. Parliamentary communication efforts need to be boosted in order to advance genuine consultation especially in remote communities where internet access is not reliable or easily accessible. This amounts to laws being passed regarding Indigenous Peoples without their knowledge.

When I was working on the Northwest Territories Negotiation Team for the groundbreaking Transboundary Water Agreement between Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Yukon in 2015 we did extensive consultation with First Nations leaders across the north and their chosen delegates. In documenting our consultation efforts we captured what we heard in a table that categorized their concerns. We also provided accommodation in the form of per diems and honorariums. The federal government should be ensuring that their consultation process for the carrying forward of this Act is robust. Transparency is also important so that First Nations can review any prior consultation efforts laid out in clear and concise documentation, redacted of personal information, to ensure that First Nation voices are being accounted for not just at the political level of leadership.

During one of the transboundary water meetings, I remember clearly one of the Elders raising a troubling concern. In his lifetime he saw water change from being able to drink water straight out of the lake to having to buy it in a plastic bottle with the price now being more than the price of a liter of gas. Not having access to clean water has interfered with Aboriginal rights, human rights and international rights. UNDRIP Article 25 states “Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.”

Currently, without the legislation being given royal assent,143 long term drinking water advisories have been lifted over the last decade that’s 84% leaving 28 long term drinking water advisories still in effect in First Nations reserve across Canada with the longest boil water advisories being 28 years and still running in Neskantaga First Nation located a few hours drive north of Thunder Bay. However, I want you to notice how this wording states “long term”. These numbers don’t include the additional 27 First Nations on short term drinking water advisories in the south only, the numbers for reserves north of 60 are not published on ISC’s website.

Initiatives underway in the remaining communities to address complex resolutions include implementing new system designs, repairing existing systems, and improving local training and monitoring programs. The government has gone so far as trying to explain the lengthy lifecycle of solving wastewater issues and ensuring sustainable access to safe drinking water which can take up to four years in some instances depending mainly on geographical navigation. Yet in a day and age where satellites are sent into outer space and exploration of the depths of the ocean is possible, there is no excuse to not have safe drinking water facilities on reserve just because of challenging to remote locations, budgeting or time constraints. The blame game between governmental departments has gone on for far to long leaving a large majority of the public confused and even blaming First Nations themselves with their misinformed beliefs – that First Nations were given enough funds to operate and maintain their own water services on reserve. However the funding was never sufficient enough to address the water crisis and has since proved to be discriminatory in the evidentiary findings leading to the result of the class action settlement agreement.

In terms of water and wastewater, there are 547 projects on reserve now complete, while 697 are still ongoing. The projects are pegged to serve 471,000 people in 591 first nations communities. However, with severe global warming implications, more and more communities may be faced with boil water advisories due to potential flooding, drought and sentiment interruption causing contaminants in lakes and riverbeds to rise to the surface which will require additional monitoring, repair and state of the art infrastructure.

The original water stewards across this country are Indigenous people. Water is our life source. We know that water is life and without it we cannot survive. This is a well-known fact. What is not well known to most non-Indigenous bureaucrats is that for many Indigenous people water is spiritual. It is mother earths womb. The proposed Act attempts to simplify this belief system in a few sentences by subtly addressing it in the preamble stating that the stewardship, protection and sustainable use of water are of fundamental value to First Nations, whereby clean and safe water is integral to the traditions, customs and practices of First Nations, particularly in relation to sustenance, cleaning and purification. I suppose that after decades of hardship around water quality on reserve it is finally a start.

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December 27 2023

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Solving the Water Crisis On Reserve

Written by Katłı̨̀ą (Catherine) Lafferty

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Last Updated: March 5, 2021

Macushla Law Corporation and its affiliates (“macushlaw ” or “we”), are committed to protecting and maintaining the accuracy, security and privacy of Personal Information in accordance with applicable legislation and the Law Society of British Columbia’s cloud computing due diligence guidelines (“Law Society Guidelines”). This macushlaw (tm pending) Privacy Policy is a statement of principles and guidelines concerning the protection of Personal Information of our clients, service providers and other individuals (“you”).

Consent

By submitting personal information to macushlaw (tm pending) or its service providers and agents, you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such personal information as set out in this this privacy policy and as permitted or required by law. Subject to legal and contractual requirements, you may refuse or withdraw your consent to certain of the identified purposes at any time by contacting us. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide you or continue to provide you with certain services or information which may be of value to you. If you provide macushlaw (tm pending) or our service providers and agents with personal information of another individual, you represent that you have all necessary authority and/or have obtained all necessary consents from such person to enable us to collect, use and disclose such personal information for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy.

what personal information do we collect?

Canadian privacy legislation defines “Personal Information” broadly as information about an identifiable individual or as information that allows an individual to be identified. For the purposes of this policy, Personal Information means information about an identifiable individual as defined from time to time in applicable privacy legislation. Generally speaking, Personal Information does not include what is considered business contact information: your name, title or position, business address, telephone number, facsimile number or e-mail address. The types of Personal Information that macushlaw (tm pending) may collect about you includes your name, home address, telephone number, personal e-mail address, billing and account information, information about a client’s legal issue and other information incidental to providing legal advice and services or information we are required to, or may during the course of our engagement with you, collect pursuant to the practice of law in British Columbia and elsewhere (including Personal Information about witnesses, family members, beneficiaries, directors, officers, employees, adverse parties, parties-in-interest, investigators, decision-makers, experts, other professional advisors and our clients’ business partners, investors, shareholders, competitors and customers whom are individuals).

We also collect from former employers and other third parties, and from publicly available sources, personal information about prospective or current employees, contractors and partners that is reasonably required to establish, manage or terminate an employment, contractual or partnership relationship.

why do we collect your personal information?

In general, macushlaw (tm pending) collects, uses and discloses Personal Information about our clients and service providers in order to provide our clients with professional legal services, and about applicants for positions with macushlaw (tm pending) for the purpose of evaluating the application and deciding whether to establish (and subsequently to manage or terminate) an employment, contractual or partnership relationship.

More specifically, we collect, use and disclose your Personal Information:

~ to establish and manage client relationships, provide legal advice, perform legal services, fulfill legal duties, and avoid conflicts of interest. This may include the sharing of Personal Information by and between macushlaw (tm pending) personnel and affiliated companies and partnerships for such purposes;

~ to share Personal Information to and from third parties for the purpose of providing legal services. Such third parties may include opposing parties; parties in interest; opposing, foreign and other counsel and advisors; witnesses; decision-makers; and experts;

~ to consider whether macushlaw (tm pending) should establish a commercial relationship with clients, suppliers and other third parties, including to evaluate credit standing and to match credit bureau or credit reporting agency information;

~ to establish and maintain commercial relationships with clients, suppliers and other third parties, including to issue invoices, administer accounts, collect and process payments, and to fulfill contractual obligations;

~ to establish, manage and terminate employment, contractual and partnership relationships;

~ to understand and respond to client, supplier and other third party needs and preferences, including to contact and communicate with such parties and to conduct surveys, research and evaluations;

~ to develop, enhance, market, sell or otherwise provide macushlaw’s (tm pending) products and services;

~ to market, sell or otherwise provide products and services of third parties with whom macushlaw (tm pending) has a commercial relationship;

~ to distribute our newsletters and other informational e-mail communications, conference information and other material to individuals on our mail and e-mail lists, including via third party mailing houses and e-mail service providers;

~ to develop and manage our knowledge-management precedent systems and databases;

~ to develop and manage macushlaw’s (tm pending) business and operations;

~ to detect and protect macushlaw (tm pending) and other third parties against error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activity, and to audit compliance with macushlaw (tm pending) policies and contractual obligations;

~ to engage in business transactions, including the purchase, sale, lease, merger, amalgamation or any other type of acquisition, disposal, securitization or financing involving macushlaw (tm pending);

~ as permitted by, and to comply with, any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions; and

~ for any other purpose to which you consent.

to whom do we disclose your personal information?

From time to time, macushlaw (tm pending) may disclose your Personal Information to:

· service providers, including an organization or individual retained by Macushlaw (tm pending) to perform functions on its behalf, such as marketing, data processing, document management and office services;

· an organization or individual retained by macushlaw (tm pending) to evaluate your creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on an account;

· a financial institution, on a confidential basis and solely in connection with the assignment of a right to receive payment, the provision of security or other financing arrangements; or

· a person who, in the reasonable judgment of macushlaw (tm pending), is providing or seeking the information as your agent;

· to our insurers and to regulatory agencies such as provincial law societies, insurers or others in connection with regulatory or other activities relating to the obligations of macushlaw (tm pending) and its practice of the profession of law;

· to personnel in macushlaw (tm pending), government authorities, insurers, benefits providers, consultants or agents as reasonably required to establish, manage or terminate employment, contractual and partnership relationships; and

· any third party or parties, where you consent to such disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

where do we store your personal information?

Your Personal Information is stored in secured locations and on servers controlled by macushlaw (tm pending), located either at our offices or at the offices of our service providers.

how may you obtain access to your personal information?

Upon your written request, subject to certain exceptions, macushlaw (tm pending) will inform you of the existence, use and disclosure of your Personal Information and will give you access to that information. Access requests should be sent to our office, using the contact information below. Your personal information may be shared, stored or accessed in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area and other jurisdictions or countries. Your information may be disclosed in response to valid demands or requests from governments, regulators, courts and law enforcement authorities in those jurisdictions or countries.

how do we protect your personal information?

To help protect the confidentiality of your Personal Information, macushlaw (tm pending) employs administrative and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of your Personal Information. Where Personal Information is sent to a third party for processing we ensure, through our contacts with them, that all Personal Information is kept secure. We operate secure data networks protected by industry standard firewall and password protection systems.

privacy and our website

Cookies, Beacons and Tracking – When an individual visitor accesses the macushlaw (tm pending) website, we may use a browser feature called a ‘cookie’ to collect information such as the type of Internet browser and operating system the visitor uses, the domain name of the website from which the visitor came, date and duration of the visit, number of visits, average time spent on our website, pages viewed and number of cookies accumulated. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that identifies the visitor’s browser, but not necessarily the visitor, to our computers each time our website is visited. Unless a visitor specifically informs us (e.g. by registering for an event or sending us correspondence from the website), we will not know who the individual visitors are. Similarly, we may use other technologies such as pixel tags, locally shared objects, clear GIFs and web beacons, to track what you view and interact with on our website. In addition to the identified purposes described in our Privacy Policy, we may use this website information and share it with other organizations with whom we have a commercial relationship to measure the use of our website, to improve the functionality and content of the website and to facilitate usage by a visitor. Visitors can reset their browsers either to notify them when they have received a cookie or refuse to accept cookies. However, if a visitor refuses to accept cookies, he or she may not be able to use some of the features available on our website.

Online Communications – In order to provide our website visitors with a service or information, visitors may voluntarily submit Personal Information to us for purposes such as asking a question, obtaining information, reviewing or downloading a publication, subscribing to our newsletter or a mail or e-mail list, participating in a seminar or other event, and participating in contests and surveys. If you are known to macushlaw (tm pending) as a registered user of an online service, we may combine and store Personal Information about your use of our website and the online information you have provided with certain other online and offline information we may have collected.

E-mail Communications – Occasionally, we may send marketing or promotional e-mail communications to you with information that may be useful, including information about the services of macushlaw (tm pending) and other third parties with whom we have a relationship. In this process, we may collect certain information such as the date/time you first opened our e-mail communications, the number of times you open our e-mail communications, the number of click-throughs per article, total click-through activity on the contents of our e-mail communications and compile generally the related statistics. We may combine and store any such information to manage and improve our e-mail communications to you. We will include instructions on how to unsubscribe and inform us of preferences if you decide you do not want to receive any future marketing or promotional e-mails from macushlaw (tm pending).

Links – Our website may contain links to other websites which are provided as a convenience only. Visitors are advised that other third party websites may have different privacy policies and practices than macushlaw (tm pending), and macushlaw (tm pending) has no responsibility for such third party websites.

changes to the privacy policy

We reserve the right to modify or supplement this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make a change to this Privacy Policy, we will post such changes on our website and make such revised policy and changes available upon request to our office. However, we will obtain the necessary consents required under applicable privacy laws if it seeks to collect, use or disclose your Personal Information for purposes other than those to which consent has been obtained unless otherwise required or permitted by law.

third party privacy policies

During the course of offering you the best client-service possible, we employ the use of third party software for internal system use. Each of these third-party services is screened internally to ensure compliance with Law Society Guidelines. The use, collection, and storage of your personal information is also subject to those third-party policies, and by use of our Services you agree to comply with such policies.

further information

Macushlaw (tm pending) has appointed James Struthers our office to oversee compliance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. For information on macushlaw (tm pending)’s privacy practices, please contact Mr. Struthers at:

[email protected]

253 Columbia Street

Vancouver, BC V6A 2R5

Your access to and use of any material on the macushlaw (^tm pending) website constitutes your acceptance of, and is conditional upon your acceptance of and compliance with, the following provisions. These terms and conditions may change from time to time and it is your responsibility to check for such updates.

No Lawyer – Client Relationship

No lawyer-client, advisory, fiduciary or other relationship is created by accessing or otherwise using the macushlaw (^tm pending) website or by communicating with a lawyers by way of e-mail or through our website.

Not Legal Advice

The material provided on the macushlaw (^tm pending) website is for general information purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice or opinions of any kind and may not be used for professional or commercial purposes. No one should act, or refrain from acting, based solely upon the materials provided on this website, any hypertext links or other general information without first seeking appropriate legal or other professional advice. The hypertext links, search mechanisms, portals, documents and information on this website are provided for your convenience only. These materials may have no evidentiary value and should be checked against official sources before they are used for professional or commercial purposes. It is your responsibility to determine whether these materials are admissible in a given judicial or administrative proceeding and whether there are any other evidentiary or filing requirements. Your use of these materials is at your own risk.

No Warranty

While macushlaw (^tm pending) has made reasonable efforts to ensure that the materials contained on this website are accurate, it does not warrant or guarantee: the accuracy, currency or completeness of the materials; that the website will be available without interruption, error or omission; that defects will be corrected; or that the website and the server(s) that make it available are free from viruses or other harmful components. The website and the materials provided on the website are provided “as is” and “as available” without representations, warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied.

In no event shall macushlaw (^tm pending), its partners, agents or employees be liable for any loss, cost or damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for harm to business, loss of profits, programs or data, interruption of activities or any other pecuniary or economic loss) whether direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special, exemplary, consequential or otherwise arising out of any use or misuse of, or any defects, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in this site without regard to the form of action, even if macushlaw (^tm pending) has been advised of the possibility of damages or if such damages are reasonably foreseeable.

Communications Not Confidential

macushlaw (^tm pending) does not guarantee the confidentiality of any communication via e-mail, through the website, or through any third-party service that relates to a matter for which the firm does not already represent you. In matters that macushlaw (^tm pending) does represent you, e-mail may not be secure.

Laws of British Columbia and Canada Apply

The laws of the province of British Columbia and the laws of Canada applicable therein shall govern use of this website and the interpretation, validity and effect of this agreement, notwithstanding any conflict of laws, provisions or your domicile, residence or physical location. You hereby consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the province of British Columbia in any action or proceeding related to this website and agree not to commence any such action or proceeding except in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada.

Reserved Rights

Copyright © 2020 Macushla Law Corporation. All rights reserved. The macushlaw (^tm pending) website contains information, communication, software (including program code that may execute on the server or that may be embedded in or downloadable from individual pages on this site), images, sounds, music, graphics, photos, videos and other materials and services (collectively, “Content”).

You agree that the Content and the selection, arrangement, architecture and enhancement of the Content and other website features (“Website Design”) are protected by Canadian and international intellectual and industrial property rights, including copyrights, trade-marks and other proprietary rights. These rights are valid and protected in all media existing now or later developed, and all use of the Content or Website Design shall be in accordance with such rights and the terms of this agreement.

Users of this website are granted a limited licence to display or print its content for their own personal non-commercial use, provided the Content is not modified. Any other use of the Content or the Website Design is prohibited. The Content and Website Design may not be otherwise reproduced, republished or re-disseminated in any matter or form without the prior written consent of macushlaw (^tm pending).

Linking

You may link to the front page of this website at www.macushlaw.ca. Any other link to this website, and any linking to the pages within the site or framing of content on this site, is prohibited without the prior written consent of macushlaw (^tm pending). Any reference on this website to any product or service by trade name, trade-mark, hypertext link or otherwise is provided to you for your convenience only and does not constitute or imply its endorsement or recommendation by macushlaw (^tm pending). To the extent this website contains links to other websites, macushlaw (^tm pending) does not control the availability or content of such websites. Your use of any linked websites is at your own risk.

Last Updated: January 1st, 2024

These terms of legal service (“Agreement”) govern your access to our legal services. We have done our best to write this Agreement in plain, understandable language but want to remind you that it is a legally binding contract.

We want to start by telling you a bit about us, and our approach to legal practice. Then, we will propose a structure to our relationship as client and legal provider. Finally, we will set out rules to help interpret and apply the terms of this Agreement.

1. Acceptance

Notwithstanding any rule of law or equity to the contrary, by clicking ‘I represent, warrant, and agree’ when submitting an client intake form as adopted by macushlaw from time to time, accepting the terms of this Agreement by email or orally over the phone, affixing your signature to this Agreement, or otherwise indicating your acceptance of this Agreement, including the use of our services after being given notice of this Agreement and a reasonable opportunity to review this Agreement, you are bound by the terms of this Agreement. You will be deemed to have accepted this Agreement if you direct us to provide you legal services after receipt of this Agreement.

If you direct us to act on behalf of any of your affiliates, expressly or impliedly, you represent and warrant to us that you have the authority to bind such affiliate to these terms with respect to the matters you direct us to undertake for such person. If part of our initial scope of work involves incorporating or forming an entity, such entity will be deemed to agree to be bound by this Agreement upon formation.

2. who we are

Impact, values and process drive us at macushlaw. You can learn more about macushlaw and our values at www.macushlaw.ca.

3. our work

(a) Services. You have retained us to provide you with the legal services set out in the client intake form or discussed with your lawyer, and any other services you direct us to assist you with from time to time (“Services”) in exchange for the fees we charge in accordance with this Agreement.

(b) Providing Instructions. You can direct us to provide you Services by email or over the phone. We will happily discuss the scope of your Services with you, however all final decisions respecting the scope of Services are yours, and yours alone.

Reasonable Inference of Instructions. Although you control the Services, we are entitled to reasonably infer your instructions from correspondence, especially when the Services are delivered subject to time constraints, and we reserve the right to determine the best way to provide the Services and to include any qualified macushlaw team member to provide the Services.

4. client and nature of retainer

(a) Whom the Client Is. We represent you and only you on the legal matters you ask us to help with and which matters we accept and agree to provide legal services to you in relation to, which means we don’t act for your spouse, children, company, directors, officers, shareholders, employees or any other client party unless they are also our client.

(b) No Unlimited Retainer. macushlaw has adopted this Agreement and its online intake system in order to streamline client intake, lowering the administrative cost of providing legal services to the public in order to further macushlaw’s public interest aim of increasing access to justice. Though the parties agree to and are bound by the terms of this Agreement upon your acceptance, formation of this Agreement does not constitute formation of an unlimited retainer.

(c) Acceptance of Retainers. Notwithstanding your agreement to these Terms and/or your attendance at a consultation with one of our staff members, until we expressly agree to provide, or impliedly by commencement providing, legal services you request us to provide to you, a solicitor-client relationship and all obligations to you thereunder will not crystalize. For greater certainty, our non-acceptance of any requested services hereunder will not constitute withdrawal from representation of you. Regardless of whether we accept any request to provide you with legal services, confidentiality will apply.

5. instructions and client obligations

We will take instructions from the instructing individual, or any other individual you expressly or impliedly permit us to receive instructions from.

6. conflicts of interest

(a) Conflicts of Interest. As your legal team member, we are required to act in your best interest, and your best interest alone. Subject to section 7 of this Agreement, while we are your legal team member, we will not act for another client in a matter that creates a conflict of interest unless:

(i) you give us permission;

(ii) the matter is substantially unrelated to what we are helping you with; and

(iii) we do not have confidential information belonging to you that might reasonably affect our representation of another client, or vice versa.

(b) No Conflict for Business Reasons Alone. By entering into this engagement with us, you acknowledge that we do not have a conflicting interest just because we represent a person that is your business competitor, an adverse party in an unrelated matter, or that takes public, political, social, legal or other positions with which you disagree.

(c) Conflicts After Retainer. When you are no longer our client, we may represent another client in any matter that is adverse to your interests provided that:

(i) the other matter is not directly related to the matter in which we previously represented you; and

(ii) we protect your relevant confidential information.

(d) Conflict Rules Subject to Change. The terms of this section 6 are based on current laws which are subject to change. We are not required to give you notice of those changes.

7. Joint retainers

We may agree to act in certain matters for more than one client. If you have accepted this Agreement and there will be more than one client for your matter, you understand, acknowledge and agree that the following will apply:

(a) Deemed Notice. We are required prior to representing you jointly, if applicable, to raise certain issues with you and obtain your consent regarding the course to follow if a conflict arises. If we agree to act for multiple clients respecting the same matter(s), this Agreement will be deemed notice to you of the terms of our joint representation and the terms applicable thereto.

(b) Joint Representation Only When No Dispute. We can only represent multiple parties respecting the same legal matter if there is no dispute between the parties, such parties’ interests are not in conflict, and typically only where the parties expressly consent. If you request that we represent two or more parties jointly respecting the same matter, you each jointly and severally represent and warrant to us that there is no dispute between such parties and you expressly consent to the joint representation.

(c) Joint Retainer Specific Terms. The following applies to any joint representation unless we deliver additional or alternate joint retainer terms to you in accordance with section 7(d):

(i) We owe each of you a duty of undivided loyalty. This means that we must act in each of your best interests at all times and must not favour the interests of one of you over the interests of another or allow anything to interfere with our loyalty to each of you or our judgement on your behalf. If we are unable to fulfill this duty of undivided loyalty to each of you, we will have to withdraw.

(ii) No information we receive from one of you or from any other source with respect to this matter can be treated as confidential from any of you. This means that, as long as the joint retainer continues, we must disclose relevant information to each of you. However, should we receive information from any source that makes it clear we are in a conflict by acting for you jointly, or if a contentious issue arises between you, we must cease acting for each of you in the matter unless the conflict or contentious issue, as applicable, is resolved. In the event the conflict or contentious issue, as applicable, is not resolved, however, we would not be permitted to disclose the confidential information to you.

(iii) If we currently act for one of you in a matter separate from a matter you previously retained us for (“Prior Matter”), and we receive confidential information from that separate matter that is relevant to the Prior Matter we will have to withdraw from the Prior Matter unless we receive the consent of the client in the separate matter to disclose that information.

(iv) If a conflict or contentious issue arises that falls short of a legal dispute between you, you have the option to settle the conflict or contentious issue by direct negotiation with one another, or if you both agree that you wish us to assist you in attempting to resolve an issue we may decide to do so, as long as the issue in our view falls short of an actual conflict or contentious issue between you. If a conflict or contentious issue is resolved by direct negotiation between you, or if an issue short of an actual conflict or contentious issue is resolved with or without our assistance, then we may then continue to represent both of you.

(v) If a conflict or contentious issue arises between you that is not resolved, then we will cease to represent all of you and we will refer you to other lawyers.

(vi) If you are proceeding with joint representation, we recommend to you that you seek independent legal advice before proceeding with obtaining the Services from us.

(d) Additional Terms Applicable to Joint Retainers. In certain circumstances we may deliver to you additional terms applicable to your joint representation which may amend or replace certain terms herein including without limitation sections 4, 5 and 6 hereof. These additional terms will be binding upon delivery by email unless you reject such terms within a reasonable period of time after receipt. If you continue to direct us to provide legal services after receipt of the same, you will be deemed to have waived your right to reject such additional or alternate terms.

8. fees

(a) Default Billing Method. Unless we agree otherwise, we will provide Services on a billable hour basis. We prefer other billing methods, but we need to use the billable hour as our default to ensure that, if for some reason you ask us to perform work before we agree to an alternate rate, or provide work outside of a limited scope retainer, or otherwise are asked to provide Services we don’t have an alternative agreement regarding, we have a way to collect payment for our work to date.

(b) Flex Fee.

(i) Flex Fees (tm pending) are our preferred billing method, and we will offer these when we determine that this is feasible and appropriate for your matter. Essentially, Flex Fees are a fixed fee for a fixed, limited scope of work.

(ii) This billing method is beneficial for clients as it typically results in a lower fee for a known quantum of work. However, because the scope of work is narrow, we may not be able to consider or advise you on issues outside the scope of work which may adversely impact your rights.

(iii) We are not liable for issues which you have not advised us about, or which are expressly outside the scope of work you approve. Once we receive your express or implied approval of a Flex Fee proposal, which will include the fee, the scope of work, and may include additional imitations, assumptions or other information relevant to the limited scope retainer, we will proceed with the scope of work on the terms of that proposal, which proposal will form part of this Agreement whether agreed to via email or otherwise.

(iv) If you expressly or impliedly expand the scope of work, we reserve the right to charge our billable rates for the additional legal work. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify you that the additional services are outside of the applicable proposal. You are not obligated to proceed on a Flex Fee basis.

(v) We reserve the right to make reasonable determinations of scope of work completion, issue bills to you for progress towards completion of any Flex Fee scope of work, and to apply any funds held in trust against any such interim invoices.

(i) With this billing method, we will track our team’s time and charge you in 6-minute increments for the time it takes us to assist you.

(ii) Our hourly billable rates are adjusted annually to account for the development of our lawyers and paralegals as well as economic factors like the Consumer Price Index and market trends.

(iii) Our hourly rate ranges are posted on our website here. We may agree to an alternate rate in certain circumstances over the phone or via email. You can apply for a reduced rate when you submit your Client Intake Form.

Lawyer ($Premium/$Standard/$Contributor/$Equity/$Lowbono)
Senior Contract Lawyer (incld. Anders Ourom, K.C.)
($570/$475/$403.75/$332.50/$237.50)
Mid-Level Contract Lawyer
($420/$350/$297.50/$245/$175)
Junior Contract Lawyer
($330/$275/$233.75/$192.50/$137.50)

James Struthers ($480/$400/$340/$280/$200)
Nazanin Khodarahmi ($420/$350/$297.50/$245/$175)
Sheldon Falk ($330/$275/$233.75/$192.50/$137.50)

macushlaw may work with other contract lawyers from time to time and we reserve the right to charge a reasonable market rate for the contract lawyer’s call year and area of expertise. We reserve the right to staff your file with such team members as we deem in our sole discretion necessary or advisable.

Articled Student
Katlia Lafferty ($276/$230/$195.50/$161/$115)

Paralegal ($Premium/$Standard/$Contributor/$Equity$Lowbono)

Raquel Struthers ($330/$275/$233.75/$192.50/$137.50) Lynnet Resh ($270/$225/$191.25/$157.50/$112.50)
Leah Beer ($270/$225/$191.25/$157.50/$112.50)

Administrative Team ($Premium/$Standard/$Contributor/$Equity/$Lowbono)
Amanda Mazloomi ($120/$100/$85/$70/$50)
Trish Vu ($96/$80/$68/$56/$40)

(d) Value for Services. We constantly strive to innovate and reduce the cost of legal services through technology, overhead reduction and administrative efficiencies. We also work hard to understand your needs and provide you with practical, relevant legal services. That said, we’re only human, and won’t always get it right. If you feel you have been charged an amount which doesn’t match the value of the services you have received, please let us know.

9. Disbursements

(a) We will charge you any expenses, also called disbursements, we incur that are reasonably necessary and proper to provide the Services. Typical disbursements include couriers, outside counsel, filing fees, due diligence related charges, mail (packaging and postage) and printing costs.

(b) We may also charge you other amounts which may not be necessary or advance your interests, but which help us provide more affordable, more expedient, efficient, compliant and/or remote Services, such as trust administration fees, corporate searches for client identification and verification purposes, paper printing, stationary and postage, eFax fees, soft credit check fees, online verification tools, or other similar types of charges, as applicable to you and the Services.

(c) We use technology, focus on a paperless practice and use other cost-conscious practices to minimize your disbursements. If we anticipate incurring any large or unusual disbursements, we will notify you prior to doing so.

10. taxes

(a) You will pay all applicable taxes related to the Services provided. Goods and Services Tax (5%) and Provincial Sales Tax (7%) are payable on all applicable accounts. If these tax rates change during the course of our engagement, we will charge the new tax rate.

(b) If you are eligible for a sales tax exemption, it is your obligation to notify us, provide us your tax registration/exemption number(s), and provide evidence or certification that you meet such exemption requirements if requested.

11. Invoices and payment

(a) Invoices. We will issue invoices on such intervals and on such payment terms as we determine in our sole discretion acting reasonably. We will use commercially reasonably efforts to consider any reasonable request you make respecting the timing or payment terms of our invoices, which we may accept or reject in our sole discretion.

(b) Separate Matters. For administrative simplicity and efficiency, we may create only one matter when you engage us, and bill you for all Services we provide through that one matter. In our sole discretion, we may also unilaterally determine which file work we will bill under one or more separate matters. Please let us know if you would like us to separate certain scopes of work into separate matters for billing purposes and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to accommodate any such requests.

(c) Interest. We may charge interest on late payments as set out in any invoice we issue, or if no interest rate is included on such invoices, at an annual rate of 12%, in each case accruing as of the payment date set out in any such invoice, or if not specified, on the date of issue of such invoice.

(d) Security. As security for payment of our invoices you grant us a lien over all funds, files, records, and other property belonging to you that come into our possession, whether or not they are related to the subject matter of the unpaid invoices.

(e) Delivery of Invoices. We deliver our invoices by email to the instructing individual, or other recipient as you direct. We do not deliver invoices by mail. Any invoice delivered to you by any of our lawyers via email, or via our client management software as adopted from time to time, will be deemed signed by the responsible lawyer.

(f) Payment. We may determine in our sole discretion the manner of payment we will accept for invoices issued hereunder. We do not accept cash payments for invoices under any circumstances.

12. retainer for legal fees

We may request a retainer before providing you with legal services. If applicable, we will specify the amount of retainer and payment instructions by email or in a trust requisition. Our policy is to request a retainer from all new clients, and from clients which have a history of late or non-payment, late payment or other payment issues. We may use your retainer to cover any outstanding balance you owe us without further authorization.

13. Disclosure of Relationship

We may ask your permission to disclose the existence of our relationship with you, the general nature of our work with you, and other non-confidential or public information, in our marketing materials including on our web site. You may accept or decline any such requests in your sole discretion. You are always entitled to confidentiality in respect of all the Services we provide to you, and declining to grant this permission will not affect our provision of Services to you.

14. Client Identification and Verification

(a) Client Identification and Verification Rules. The Law Society Rules, 2015 (British Columbia) (“Rules”) require us to collect personal information about the client and instructing individuals, and verify their identity where the Services include a financial transaction, as such terms are defined in the Rules. The consequences to our firm and its lawyers are significant in instances of non-compliance with the Rules, notwithstanding that the information required may feel invasive or overreaching.

(b) Cooperation. You agree to provide information required by the Rules, including:

(i) if you are an individual, your full name, date of birth, home address, home telephone number, occupation, and the name, address, and telephone number of your place of work or employment, where applicable;

(ii) if you represent an organization, the full name, business address, and business telephone number of the organization; the name, position, date of birth and contact information for the instructing individual(s); the general nature of the type of business or activity engaged in by the organization; and the organization’s incorporation or business identification number and the place of issuance of its incorporation or business identification number;

(iii) information respecting the source of funds involved in any financial transaction; and

(iv) any other information about the client and instructing individual(s) that we may reasonably require to fulfill our obligations.

(c) Credit File Verification. Given the manner in which financial transaction is defined in the Rules, as well as the timing of verification requirements and the severity of consequences for us and our lawyers for non-compliance, we verify all new clients and instructing individuals using the most cost and time effective (for both you and for us) manner, being a soft credit check. The purpose of a soft credit check is to verify the personal information you have provided to us as required by the Rules. A soft credit check involves obtaining information from your credit file that is used to verify that the name, address and date of birth in the credit file match the information you provided to us. We will obtain a soft credit check for all individual clients and instructing individuals at the time a matter is opened, or upon change in instructing individuals. We save these documents in a secure digital location separate from files accessible by all of our staff and lawyers. Soft credit checks do not impact your credit rating and are collected solely for the purpose of ensuring that we comply with the Rules respecting client verification should the Services include a financial transaction. By agreeing to these Terms, you consent to our collection and use of soft credit checks in this manner for the purposes provided herein.

(d) Further Verification. Where the results of such investigations are not sufficient for macushlaw to satisfy its client identification and verification obligations, we may require the client or instructing individuals to attend one of our offices in person or provide us further documentation like bills or invoices displaying your name or address.

15. Termination

(a) Intention for Positive Relationship. We want to have a long, happy relationship with all of our clients. Even with the best of intentions on both sides, we can’t always make that happen. If we aren’t getting along, you aren’t getting what you need or want from us, you don’t comply with this Agreement, you don’t pay us, or if you instruct us to, or the Services include, any act or omission which might constitute a breach of our professional or ethical obligations, we would rather we part ways than force an unhappy relationship.

(b) Termination for Convenience. Both you and macushlaw may terminate this Agreement immediately upon delivery of written notice, unless, in the case of termination by macushlaw, we are prohibited from doing so immediately upon delivery of written notice, in which case, this Agreement will terminate as soon as legally possible or at the time or upon the event specified in our notice of termination.

(c) Payment Obligations Continue. You are required to pay all invoices, and any fees, taxes, and disbursements, outstanding, performed, incurred or accrued, as applicable, up to the time of termination. Upon termination by either macushlaw or you, we reserve the right to bill for work in progress on an hourly or on a quantum meriut basis.

(d) Application of Retainer. We may use any retainer as full or partial payment of any outstanding accounts if this Agreement is terminated. For clarity, you remain responsible for paying all outstanding accounts, fees, taxes and disbursements before we will transfer your files to another law firm.

(e) Change in Lawyer of Record. If we have commenced legal proceedings on your behalf, or you have commenced proceedings and recorded macushlaw as your law firm, you will immediately upon receipt of the same sign and return any forms or documents we require you to sign in order to indicate to the court that we no longer act for you.

16. Electronic Communications and Cloud Computing

(a) Consent to Communicate Electronically. We may exchange electronic versions of documents and e-mails with you using commercially available software. We cannot guarantee that all communications and documents will always be received, or that such communications and documents will always be virus free. We make no warranty with respect to any electronic communications between us, including the security of such communication. You consent to our exchange of unencrypted electronic communications, including confidential documents.

(b) Consent to Digital Document Storage. You consent to us storing your documents and personal information on the cloud platforms or servers provided by Microsoft, Clio, Appara, eConveyance, LawyerDoneDeal, myLTSA, OnCorp, BC Online, Datto, Adobe, and any other cloud or digital-based services we use, subject to their terms of use. Some such services may store data on servers outside Canada. We make no representation or warranty with respect to any online storage, processing, transmission or security of your documents. You consent to our use of these services and storage of your data outside Canada. If you require that we do not use these cloud services or storage options, please advise us as soon as possible. For more information respecting the policies, agreements, or other instruments applicable to your rights respecting our use of, or your use of, cloud-based and other digital software, programs or services, visit the websites of the respective programs.

(c) Privacy Policy. If you would like more information, you can access our terms of use, privacy policy, cloud computing policy and other policies applicable to your use of macushlaw’s legal services and website at https://macushlaw.ca/privacy-policy.

17. Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”)

CASL obligates us to give you notice that we may occasionally send you commercial electronic messages (“CEMs”) (as defined in CASL), including legal updates, invitations, inquiries, referrals, etc. By entering into this Agreement, you consent to receiving CEMs from us until you withdraw your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

18. Digital Signatures

(a) Consent to Digital Signatures. Printing, signing, scanning, and sending documents back and forth is time-consuming, costly, environmentally harmful and inefficient. You consent to our use of digital signature software and services when possible so that you can sign contracts electronically from anywhere in the world. Your electronic signature is secure, with a full audit trail of who signed and when.

(b) Accommodation. If you are not comfortable using this software, let us know. We can accommodate special requests for use of paper documentation, but in this digital age and in light of our commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our company, we will charge an environmental fee for large paper-based signings and projects, even where the physical documents or wet signatures are required by law.

19. outcomes, liability & indemnity

(a) No Guarantee of Outcomes. We will endeavor to represent your interests to the best of our ability. However, we cannot, and do not, guarantee any specific outcome. All legal opinions and advice provided to you reflect our judgement based on the law as it stands, and the facts provided by you and known to us, at the time the opinion or advice is provided.

(b) Indemnification for Client Errors. You will indemnify and hold harmless the macushlaw parties from and against any and all losses caused by, arising from or related to and incorrect, false, misleading, incomplete, inconsistent or conflicting instructions, agreements, records or any other document, information or detail, provided by you or anyone you have instructed to provide us with same.

(c) Liability Limitation. Notwithstanding any rule of law or equity to the contrary, no macushlaw party will be liable to any client party for any losses in excess of 50% of the amount of fees paid by you to us hereunder in the 12 months’ preceding the date of the relevant claim. Notwithstanding the foregoing or any rule of law or equity to the contrary, no macushlaw party will be liable to any client party or third party for any consequential, indirect, incidental, exemplary, special or punitive damages whatsoever, including any damages for business interruption, loss of use, data, reneue or profit, cost of capital, loss of business opportunity, loss of goodwill, or otherwise incurred by you in any way relating to the Services, including losses caused by, arising from or in any way relating to any act or omission of any macushlaw party including any act or omission which does or is alleged to be a breach of contract, a tort (negligence), or any other theory of liability, regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable and whether or not any person was advised of the possiblity of such damages.

20. Interpretation and General Terms

(a) All Terms Covenants. Any term herein which requires a party to do or refrain from doing something are covenants. All covenants herein are material terms hereof.

(b) Headings. Headings have been inserted herein as a matter of convenience and for reference only, and in no way define, limit, enlarge, modify, explain, or clarify the scope, meaning, content or interpretation of this Agreement.

(i) Any word herein used in the singular form may be read in the plural form if it is allowed in the context and a word in the plural form may be read in the singular form if it is allowed in the context, and any word expressed herein in the masculine gender may be read as feminine gender or neutral gender depending on the context.

(ii) The words “include”, “includes”, and “including” are to be read as if they are followed by the phrase “without limitation” whether or not such words or phrases are used in conjunction.

(iii) Any reference to the end of this Agreement includes an ending by expiration, cancellation, termination, surrender, or mutual agreement.

(iv) Any reference to a statute or law means the statute or law and any regulations made under them as amended, replaced, enacted, or re-enacted from time to time.

(d) Definitions. The following words have the meanings ascribed to them below:

(i) “client intake form” means the client intake form posted on our website, or delivered to the client for completion in an alternate form, which contains information necessary for us to formalize our relationship with you as legal counsel and fulfill our client identification and verification obligations.

(ii) “client parties” means the client and its affiliates and subsidiaries, or assignees, executors, heirs or successors, as applicable, and their respective shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, contractors, agents and other representatives, as applicable.

(iii) “instructing individual” means the individual(s) you expressly or impliedly permit us to receive instructions from, and any person that completed, or is identified as the instructing individual in the, client intake form.

(iv) “macushlaw parties” means macushlaw and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and such persons’ respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, contractors, agents and other representatives.

(v) “parties” means the client and macushlaw.

(vi) “we”, “us”, “our”, and “macushlaw” refer to the legal service provider, being Macushla Law Corporation, doing business as macushlaw.

(vii) “you”, “your”, “client” and other like terms used herein refer to the person or persons, whether an individual, corporation, society, Indigenous Nation or band, or other legal person, identified as the client or clients in the client intake form.

(e) Joint and Several Liability. If there is more than one client party to this Agreement, such client parties’ liability is joint and several.

(f) Governing Law. This Agreement is governed by the laws of British Columbia and Canada as applicable hereto and the subject matter herein. You irrevocably attorn to the courts of British Columbia sitting in Vancouver or such other location as determined by macushlaw in its sole discretion.

g) Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the schedules hereto, which form part of this Agreement, form the entire agreement between the Parties respecting the subject matter herein and supersede and revoke any and all previous, and render ineffective any subsequent, discussions, negotiations, arrangements, and representations, whether written or oral, unless made in writing and duly executed by each party. There are no covenants, agreements, representations, or warranties between the Parties whatsoever other than those set out in this Agreement, except such email correspondence setting out the scope of work and fee noted in section 7.

(h) Waiver. No condoning, excusing, or overlooking by a Party of any term hereof in such Party’s favour will operate as a waiver of, or otherwise affect the rights of such party in respect of enforcing such term after such action. No waiver is enforceable unless express and in writing.

(i) Severability. If any part of this Agreement is declared or held invalid for any reason, the invalidity of that part will not affect the validity of the remainder of this Agreement, which will continue in full force and effect and be construed as if this Agreement had been executed without the invalid part. Notwithstanding any rule of law or equity to the contrary, if any part of this Agreement is declared or held invalid for any reason, the provision will only be read down, declared or held invalid to the extent of the invalidity.

(j) Survival. If any part of this Agreement states that it survives the ending of this Agreement, then the survival of that part is only to the extent required for the performance of any obligations to which the term pertains. The following s, sections of this Agreement survive termination hereof: sections 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and this section 20.

(k) Time is of the Essence. Time is of the essence in this Agreement and will remain so notwithstanding any extension or grant of additional time beyond the timelines set out herein by any Party.

(l) Independent Advice and Opportunity to Review. The client has had an opportunity to seek and obtain legal advice or has waived their opportunity to obtain legal advice respecting review of this Agreement. The client has reviewed and understands this Agreement.

(m) Referral Fees. We may refer your files to other firms in exchange for a referral fee payable by the referring firm to us, and may receive files from other firms in exchange for a referral fee payable by us to the referring firm. You expressly consent to either our payment or receipt of these referral fees.

(n) Digital Signature and Counterparts. If this Agreement is manually signed rather than accepted by conduct or indicating acceptance with a digital process such as clicking, this Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which will constitute one and the same agreement and any digital signature will be equally valid and binding as if signed in wet ink by a signatory.