MacKay & McLean provides the professional services of a large Regina law firm, with the intimate attention of a small firm. The legal process can be daunting and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. MacKay & McLean is with you every step of the way.

MacKay &  McLean are your Trusted REGINA LAWYERS. In Mackay & Mcleans' latest legal tip they provide helpful information about traffic tickets! 

Should you fight your traffic ticket?

Here are some important points to consider when deciding if you should fight your traffic ticket.

1. Did you ever feel that when you received a traffic ticket you were already considered guilty?
2. If you were told you were cheating on an exam, would you simply accept it? 
3. If your bank told you that you’re being charged a fee because you overspent, when you didn’t – would you just “pay it?
4. Would you just accept being overcharged at the grocery store and not say anything?

"The average person’s experience with the police is nearly always with a traffic stop. Most of us are nervous with this singular encounter. The expectation is that you have been caught doing something against the law and the expectation is that you will just take the punishment of paying the fine." Robert Mackay 

Here are some of the many reasons why you should consider fighting your ticket:

How to Decide Whether to Fight or Fold

Before assuming the ticket can’t be beaten and resigning yourself to writing out that check, we encourage you to take a hard look at the facts to see if you have a reasonable chance of success. You may be surprised at the variety of legal grounds available for defeating your ticket. 

Here are some questions to determine whether going to court makes sense

• Was the officer’s view of what occurred ­obstructed by other moving vehicles or ­stationary objects like trees, fences, or ­buildings? If so, this allows you to argue that the ­officer could not have clearly seen the ­alleged offence and gives you an opening to sell your ­version of events to the judge.
• Did the officer stop the right car? It is quite possible in heavy traffic for an officer to see a violation committed by one white minivan (a 1995 Plymouth Voyager, for example) and to stop ­another (an almost identical white 1994 Dodge Caravan) farther down the road. Your ability to claim this happened (“the officer got the wrong driver, Your Honor”) obviously goes way up if you can show that because of a curve in the road, construction project, or just heavy traffic, the ­officer lost sight of the offending vehicle ­between the violation and pulling you over.
• Was there an actual, provable error in the officer’s approach or methodology? Inciting you for speeding, did the ­officer correctly pace your vehicle or properly use radar, or laser to establish your speed?
• Do any other legal defences exist to the law you’re charged with ­violating? For ­example, if you were charged with driving too slowly in the left lane of a multi-lane highway, it is a legal defence that you were planning to turn left.

MacKay & McLean provides the professional services of a large Regina law firm, with the intimate attention of a small firm. The legal process can be daunting and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. MacKay & McLean is with you every step of the way.

MacKay &  McLean are TRUSTED REGINA LAWYERS

When looking to buy, sell, or refinance a property, you need to hire somebody who is not a stranger to addressing the real estate needs of individuals and families. 

Bank of Canada lowers qualifying rate used in mortgage stress tests

The Canadian Press - Jul 19, 2019

With files from BNN Bloomberg

It's the first decrease in the five-year fixed mortgage rate since September 2016, when it dropped from 4.74 per cent to 4.64 per cent, and increased steadily since.

A Trusted Regina Legal Professional shares information about AMENDMENTS TO THE HEALTH INFORMATION PROTECTION ACT

The Health Information Protection Act (HIPA) was enacted in Saskatchewan in 2003 to govern and regulate the collection, use, and disclosure of personal health information. This legislation places duties and responsibilities on organizations and individuals in the health care system to ensure proper collection, use and safekeeping of personal health information.

You may not have known but some amendments to HIPA came into force on June 1, 2016. The amendments seem to be aimed at increasing the protection and safekeeping of personal health records and increasing accountability of trustees and their employees in handling those records. The amendments include the following:

• If personal health records are found unsecured, the trustee responsible for the records will be found strictly liable for the offence unless he/she can established that he/she took all reasonable steps to prevent the infraction.
• An employee of a trustee can be held liable for intentionally using, accessing, or disclosing personal health information without authorization. These provisions seem to be targeted at individuals “snooping” into the personal health information of others.
• A new provision implements a system to quickly respond to the discovery of abandoned or unsecured records and to take control of the records.

The Government of Saskatchewan has further advised that new privacy legislation, including The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2016 and The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act, 2016, is currently being introduced and is expected to come into force in 2017.

A lawyer should be consulted to determine the legal implications of provincial and federal privacy legislation on your privacy and access interests.

This post is for information purposes only and should not be taken as legal opinions on any specific facts or circumstances. Counsel should be consulted concerning your own situation and any specific legal questions you may have.

Untying the Knot: Grounds for Divorce in Saskatchewan: 

Anyone who has gone through a divorce will likely tell you it was a difficult time for them mentally, emotionally, and financially. Understandably, clients often seek advice at the first signs of trouble in their marital relationships. One question I’ve heard repeatedly in my short time practicing family law is “how do I get a divorce?”

Divorce in Saskatchewan is governed by federal legislation called the Divorce Act. Although this blog entry refers to Saskatchewan, the Divorce Act applies to all of Canada. In Saskatchewan, only the Court of Queen’s Bench has jurisdiction to deal with a Petition for Divorce, and in order to get a divorce, one must make an application to the Court. There are many common misconceptions about what a couple and/or spouse must prove in order to get a divorce, but the truth is there is only one ground for divorce in Canada: marital breakdown.

What is “marital breakdown” and how does one go about establishing that a marital breakdown has occurred? The Divorce Act sets out three ways to establish marital breakdown:

1. Living separate and apart for one year

This is, by far, the most common ground for divorce, and is the easiest to prove. Spouses are considered to have been separated for one year when they have lived separate and apart for a period of 12 months. Although the period of separation must be uninterrupted, a brief reconciliation during the year (up to 90 days) will not interfere with the calculation of time, as long as the reconciliation is unsuccessful.

2. Adultery

If you choose to seek a divorce on the basis of adultery, you must establish that adultery occurred. You must also swear that the adultery was not condoned by you, and that it was not permitted or invented simply as a means to obtaining a quick divorce. Note that adultery can be difficult to prove if your spouse is unwilling to simply admit to it in an affidavit.

3. Cruelty

Finally, a divorce may be granted in circumstances in which your spouse has treated you with intolerable physical or mental cruelty. If your spouse has treated you in such a way that it would be unreasonable or intolerable for you to continue to live with them, the Court may order a divorce. On a petition for divorce on the basis of cruelty, the Court will consider the effect of the conduct in question on you, the victim, in order to determine whether the behaviour in question constitutes cruelty.

Please note that the divorce itself is only one issue a couple faces when their marriage breaks down. Other issues that arise when a couple separates include the division of family property, custody and access regarding children, child support, and spousal support. If you choose to seek a divorce, on any of these grounds, it is best to consult a lawyer who can guide you through the procedure of obtaining a divorce and settling the corollary issues that arise when a couple separates.

This post is for information purposes only and should not be taken as legal opinions on any specific facts or circumstances. Counsel should be consulted concerning your own situation and any specific legal questions you may have.

See lawyers listinsg on the Regina directory under Legal & Professional services.

It’s an exciting time – the old house is sold, the new one is ready, and all that’s left is the move…..oh wait – not quite yet!! There’s all that legal “stuff” to deal with now….signatures….titles to be given…and pages and pages of documents that need to be signed before the key is in your hand!!! And to top it all off – who really knows a good real estate lawyer?

REGINA – Stephanie Gabber’s excitement over buying a new home in Pilot Butte quickly wore off when she tried to develop her backyard and found a drainage ditch running through the property.