Kelowna General Practice Blog

With the escalating cost of fuel, more people are opting to use public transportation. But when British Columbia residents board the bus to their jobs --  or anywhere for that matter -- and they get hurt while doing so, what are their options? When it comes to personal injury law, there are a few things people should do if they can, when they are injured while taking public transportation. 

The first thing to do is to tell the bus driver right away about any injuries and, if the injury is serious, ask that an ambulance be called. Police will usually attend the scene as well when a passenger has been seriously injured. When a passenger has been injured, but not seriously enough to call paramedics, then the passenger should take notes about the incident immediately. The more comprehensive the notes are, the better; if possible, they should include photos and the names of any witnesses along with the bus driver's name and the bus number, time of the incident, etc.

With home prices the way they are, more and more sellers are having to get innovative to sell their properties. That is especially true when it comes to high-end real estate. A couple in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley got creative recently to sell their multi-million dollar home, which had been sitting on the market for some time.

With the bang of a gavel, the couple's home -- located in Penticton -- sold at auction for $6.38 million. The lakefront home, which is on a little more than one acre, also has its own private beach. The home itself is more than 9,000 palatial square feet. It has nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. The residence was first offered on the market more than three years ago for nearly $8 million. 

Good faith goes a long way when trying to sort out family issues through litigation. When both parties want to see a contentious family law issue sorted in British Columbia, the worst way to go about doing that is approaching litigation in bad faith. Approaching a problem negatively can cause added problems for everyone involved and those problems can be emotional as well as financial.

When children are involved, and parents live in two different countries, things can get incredibly heated when parents don't agree on a number of issues including the primary residency of the children. Such was the case of a Canadian couple where the mother lives stateside and the father in Canada. Despite the initial agreement that the child would live with the mother, the father began suit asking for sole custody of the child and for the child to live with him in Canada. 

Even though residents of the Pacific Province continue to love their R&R, sales are down when it comes to recreational homes. In fact, recent statistic show the sales of recreational property in British Columbia are down more than 22% over the same time last year. Low inventory, however, has been keeping prices steady.

The most popular area for recreational property sales in the province continues to be in the central Okanagan Valley. Prices for single family residential homes in the area have decreased by about 3% over last year. The average home here is about $640,000. Even though sales are down, buyers from other provinces as well as international purchasers are still enticed to the area. Many more millennials are choosing to purchase in the Valley since prices are more affordable than they are on the coast.