A few days ago, I posted a few thoughts on Twitter about what the Federal Government and the big banks are doing to support small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The short answer is “a little, but probably not enough”. You can find the Twitter thread here. Below is a slightly edited version.
About a year ago, I wrote this piece about Canada’s new anti-spam legislation, often referred to as “CASL.” I mentioned that the new law has strict “unsubscribe” requirements, and that the fines associated with violating the legislation could be as high as $10 million for businesses. It appears we now have our first two reported penalties under CASL – courtesy of a popular dating website, Plenty of Fish (POF), as well as a lesser known company called Compu-Finder.
Every year, BC Assessment prepares an “Assessment Roll” as of December 31, and mails out assessment notices early in the calendar year. If you own property in BC, chances are you’ve already received your Property Assessment Notice for 2015. Chances are also pretty good that your property’s assessed is higher this year than it was last year.
An article by the Canadian Press (reprinted in yesterday’s Globe and Mail) suggests that while small business activity is lagging the economy as a whole, that may change over the next 5 years – mainly due to the lack of sensitivity that small businesses have to currency fluctuations. The article references a recent report from CIBC World Markets, which you can find by clicking here.
For the last year or so, you’ve been thinking about leaving your job. You enjoy what you do, and you work at a great place, but everywhere you go, you see and hear about people who have created their own businesses. You have some great ideas and some great business skills – and a couple of good friends who are encouraging you to team up with them and “disrupt” the establishment. You’ve now come to the conclusion that the three of you have what it takes to bring your idea to market and succeed.
Canada’s new “anti-spam” law (“CASL”) goes into effect on July 1, 2014. Those of you who use email or text messages to communicate with customers will need to get consent from the people on your mailing list if you want to keep sending them newsletters, updates, and other messages after July 1. If you use a mailing list, you need to sit down, clear your desk, and take the next 15 minutes to read this.
In July 2011, I wrote a short piece that was published in the National Creditor-Debtor Review about collecting foreign currency debts in British Columbia, using a statute called the Foreign Money Claims Act. The article highlighted some of the concerns that creditors faced between 2008 and 2011, when the value of the Canadian Dollar dropped by almost 25%, and then rebounded. You can read the entire article here (starting at page 25).
Fast forward to April 2014 and it appears that currency markets are relatively volatile once again: from a high of $1.03 (against the U.S. Dollar) in September 2012 , to a low of $0.89 in March of this year.
In an article in the January 18 2014 edition, the Economist reports that the general counsels of many large companies are now finding that they can negotiate discounts on hourly rates when working with large law firms. Some firms (particularly in the United States) have responded by raising their asking price.
Hirji Law Corporation is a new law firm focused on providing litigation advice and representation to your small or medium sized business. I created the firm out of a desire to provide legal services to small businesses in a more responsive, cost-effective way.
