On June 7, 2007, the National Assembly passed Bill 10, which amends the National Holiday Act and the Act Respecting Hours and Days of Admission to Commercial Establishments.Under the amended provisions of the National Holiday Act, June 24, the day of the National Holiday, will henceforth always be a public holiday, even when it falls on a Sunday, as is the case this year ...
The Federal Court of Canada recently released its decision in Ahousaht First Nation v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans)(1). The case considered an application by 14 First Nations represented by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (“NTC”) for judicial review of a decision of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans regarding the implementation of a commercial groundfish pilot plan on the British Columbia coast (the “Pilot Plan”) ...
The Employment Ordinance of Hong Kong is the main legislation prescribing the minimum rights, benefits and protection for employers and employees in Hong Kong. Under the ordinance, the employer and the employee cannot contract out of the minimum rights, benefits and protection given to the respective parties by the ordinance ...
Several court opinions show that employers are to make a careful considerations before deciding not to follow a company doctor's advice to mediate. This particularly applies if that doctor has found that a situation qualifies as a labour conflict rather than as an employee being ill. An offer of mediation by an employee cannot simply be denied either ...
The European Commission has published its report outlining its proposed changes to the European energy market.In order to open the continent's gas and electricity markets up to greater competition, the Commission has proposed the separation of energy suppliers and producers, a move which would see the break up of firms such as E.ON and Electricite de France ...
The global biofuels industry needs to be better regulated to ensure it does not harm the environment, the UK's climate change minister has stated.Speaking at a recent conference organised by Britain's Renewable Eneregy Association, Phil Woolas MP cited several studies which have shown that biofuel production has led to deforestation and increased house prices in some areas of the world, most notably across Asia ...
Ofgem announced last week that it is delaying its decision on proposals relating to transmission losses. The gas and electricity market regulator's previous statement that it favours one of several proposals before it on this subject has caused considerable consternation among commentators in Scotland ...
The Current Mineral Licensing Regime in Nigeria
DEALING WITH MINING LEGACY – SOME CANADIAN APPROACHES(1)1. INTRODUCTIONIn this paper we discuss approaches that have been used in Canada to identify and foster private sector, public and aboriginal participation in dealing with mining environmental liabilities and orphan sites(2) ...
In this long running case, the Court of Appeal has granted Dwr Cymru (on 26 July) leave to appeal the Competition Appeal Tribunal's (the CAT) finding that Dwr Cymru had abused its dominant position by setting an access charge that resulted in a margin squeeze on Albion Water (Albion). The Court of Appeal is due to hear the case later this year ...
The Department of State recently issued formal guidance instructing consular officers to refer nonimmigrant visa applicants with prior drunk driving arrests or convictions, or any other evidence that suggests an alcohol problem, to panel physicians (physicians appointment by the DOS) for medical examination. A single arrest or conviction within the last 3 calendar years, or two or more incidents at any time would trigger this requirement. The referral is mandatory ...
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) requires employers to verify the identity and eligibility for employment of all employees by completing the I-9 form within 3 days of their employment in the United States.After a ten year delay, on November 7, 2007, the USCIS announced that the long awaited revised Form I-9 is now available to the public for use in verifying employment authorization ...
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently granted Atco Gas and Pipelines Ltd.’s (ATCO) application for leave to appeal AEUB Decisions 2005-63 and 2007-005 and Interim Order U2005-133. In those decisions the AEUB required ATCO to maintain certain natural gas reservoir storage assets (the “Carbon Facilities”) in rate base ...
In his September address to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the Premier announced that the Western Climate Initiative is working collaboratively to develop a cap and trade system by next August. British Columbia will also require hard caps on GHG emissions from all heavy emitters in B.C. All ministries and Crown agencies will be legally required to be carbon neutral by 2010 – “no ifs, ands or buts” ...
Prior to 1987, natural gas was supplied to end use customers in British Columbia by monopoly service providers only on a bundled basis. In 1987, Inland Natural Gas Ltd., a predecessor company to Terasen Gas Inc. (“TGI”), pioneered open access in this province by applying to establish transportation service rates for its industrial and large commercial customers. Open access was made available to those customers commencing in 1987 ...
On October 25, 2007 the Alberta Government announced a new royalty regime that will see a 20% increase in royalties for the development of the province’s non-renewable energy resources. Starting in 2009, oil and gas companies are expected to be paying roughly $1.4 billion more a year in royalties ...
On March 15, 2007 BC Hydro filed its first general rate design application in 16 years (after a lengthy government imposed rate freeze that ended in 2003, an enquiry into the allocation of the benefits of BC Hydro’s low-cost Heritage Resources, two revenue requirements proceedings and its first comprehensive longterm resource planning review in this year) ...
On September 30, 2007, on its own motion and without notice, the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB) issued a decision voiding its approvals of both the Alberta Electric System Operator’s (AESO) need assessment and general routing selection and AltaLink Management Ltd.’s (AltaLink) subsequent facilities application related to the proposed 500kV transmission reinforcement between Edmonton and Calgary ...
In September, 2007 the AESO removed the 900MW threshold on wind power generation. In response to concerns about the Alberta system’s ability to absorb significant volumes of intermittent resources, in 2006 the AESO had capped wind facility interconnection to the Alberta system at 900MW until such time as appropriate mitigation measures were established to ensure wind power did not jeopardize system reliability ...
There is less than one month before the deadline imposed by the Act to amend the Supplemental Pension Plans Act, particularly with respect to the funding and administration of pension plans (“Bill 30”) for the adoption of an internal by-law by your pension committee, and it still isn’t too late to meet this requirement ...
On 19 September, the Commission announced its third legislative package aimed at liberalising the EU’s electricity and gas markets ...
In Still v. Great Northern Insurance Company, No. 07-2425, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 26024 (3d Cir. Nov. 87, 2007), the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to an insurer relying on the “business pursuits” exclusion in a homeowner’s policy. The Third Circuit found the exclusion was unambiguous and precluded coverage for a counterclaim brought by the insured’s former employer for malicious prosecution. Id. at *5-6 ...
NIGERIA’S MINING ACTS - A Case Study for Mining Reform
The Department of State (DOS) has announced two changes to the visa application process at consular posts. Effective January 1, 2008, non-immigrant visa application fees increase from $100 to $131. DOS claims that the new fees are meant to recover costs associated with increased security measures and other security enhancements ...
Most applicants for adjustment of status (“green card”) must obtain travel permission from the USCIS before departing the U.S. Failure to obtain an “advance parole” can cause the USCIS to automatically deem the application abandoned and to deny the case. An exception to this rule applies to H-1 and L nonimmigrants and their dependents. Until now, individuals returning to the U.S ...
