Law Times

Page 10 July 13, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Whatever you call them, drones a growing area Despite concern over terminology, Canada in a good position for new business By michael mckiernan For Law Times atherine Pawluch's long-standing avi- ation practice has left her in a good position to capital- ize on the increasing demand for legal advice in the emergent field of unmanned aerial ve- hicles. With the field developing so quickly, of course, there are still questions about the proper terminology. Should it be un- manned aircraft systems or re- motely piloted aircraft systems instead? Pawluch, a partner at DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, doesn't mind which term you use as long as you don't mention the d-word. "I make a concerted effort not to refer to them as drones because of the military connota- tions of that word. It conjures up all sorts of images in the minds of the public that are not very helpful in terms of public accep- tance of UAVs for commercial use," says Pawluch, who works in the firm's Toronto office. Pawluch says commercial use of the vehicles has "grown expo- nentially" in the last few years and statistics from Transport Canada, which issues special f light operations certificates to operators, back her up. In 2014, the regulator issued 1,672 certificates for un- manned aerial vehicles. That was up from just 345 in 2012. In November last year, in order to keep up with the pace, Transport Canada is- sued a blanket exemption for commercial unmanned aerial vehicles under 25 ki- lograms in order to focus the certificate system on heavier aircraft and more complex f light operations. Diana Cooper, a lawyer at Ottawa's LaBarge Weinstein LLP, has ridden the wave of enthusiasm. In fact, she es- tablished and began chairing her firm's unmanned aerial systems and robotics prac- tice group within a year of her call to the bar in Ontario. Hav- ing taken the University of Otta- wa's law and technology option, Cooper "fell in love with robot- ics" and developed a following based on some of her academic writing on drones. "I'm already getting calls from Canada, the U.S., and Eu- rope," she says. "People are hungry for some kind of expertise in this area and it's been incredible to be able to bring in potential business to the firm. Not many people are doing this in Canada, and luck- ily the firm has been very sup- portive," she adds. Cooper's clients range from startup enterprises to large play- ers in the field, including Preci- sionHawk Inc., a major provider of unmanned aerial vehicles in the oil and gas sector. She says Canada's relatively permissive regulatory environment has helped put this country at the heart of development in the in- dustry with many U.S.-based firms looking north for testing. Earlier this year, Amazon.com Inc. caused a stir when it used a secret base in British Columbia to begin testing of its planned drone delivery system. "That was a huge indicator of how much more advanced our regulatory system is," says Coo- per. "You can get exemptions in the U.S., but they are very tough to get and a lot more limited in terms of what you are allowed to do with them." Ehsan Monfared, a qualified commercial pilot and lawyer with Toronto aviation law firm Clark and Co., says the relatively uncongested airspace in Canada and its vast stretches of unpopu- lated areas help reduce the safety concerns associated with un- manned aerial vehicles. But he notes Transport Canada has still taken a nota- bly "collaborative approach" to f light certification. While it de- cides whether to issue the cer- tificates on a case-by-case basis, the regulator will grant standing exemptions to operators with a good history of incident-free f lights in similar circumstances. "They don't want to hinder the industry," says Monfared. In May, Transport Canada put out a call for comments on new regulations for vehicles that weigh less than 25 kilograms and f ly within the pilot's sight. The rules could include restric- tions on when and where cer- tain types of vehicles could f ly. Halifax lawyer David Fraser has concerns about the propos- als, but they're not the type you might expect from one of the country's most renowned privacy lawyers. Rather than focus on the dangers of unwelcome surveillance or intrusion, Fra- ser's worries stem from his recreational use of unmanned aerial vehicles. "My little drone does not have a zoom lens and al- though it could hover out- side someone's window, it makes an awful lot of noise. So I'm not sure how intrusive it could be," says Fraser. A keen amateur photog- rapher for most of his life, he has embraced the drone as a tool to improve his craft. "It's a way to give you a completely different perspec- tive, which is what you should be looking for as a photogra- pher," he says. "Everyone looks at things from six feet up, so you're al- ways told to go down low or up high." Having mastered the controls with a cheaper model, Fraser upgraded to the newly released Phantom 3, using it to capture aerial views of local landmarks such as the Halifax Citadel and the city's harbour. Still, Fraser takes care to act responsibly by staying out of the clouds in order to avoid losing sight of his drone and not f lying when helicopters are in sight. He says Transport Canada's rules for hobbyists like him go over the top by restricting f light to within nine kilometres of an aerodrome and discouraging it in built-up areas. "I would really like to see an appreciation that my drone and drones of that category are really quite small [and] so pose no risk to aviation. Mine is one-fifth the mass of a Canada goose," says Fraser. In addition, he has con- cerns with the suggestion in the rules that they may no longer treat a drone with a camera at- tached as a recreational use. "That makes no sense to me. Photography is a Charter-pro- tected expressive activity. Some of the more arbitrary rules that are a result of over caution risk squelching this growing hobby and growing business." Cooper says the next logical step for Transport Canada will be to tackle rules for operations involving commercial drones f lying outside of the operator's visual line of sight. "That's going to allow a lot of industries to f lourish once it's in place," she says. "Transport Canada has to look to what comes next. We don't want to lose the competi- tive advantage that we'd had over the last 10 years." LT Commercial and recreational use of drones has grown significantly in recent years. Photo: Robert Mandel/Shutterstock FocuS on Legal Specialists & Boutiques C www.kuretzkyvassos.com Tel: (416) 865-0504 w Kuretzky_LT_Apr7_14.indd 1 14-04-02 9:08 AM

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