Law Times

Page 6 February 27, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com COMMENT u EDITORIAL OBITER By Gabrielle Giroday Family welfare Law Times has two stories this week focused on issues related to child welfare. In one, Ontario Superior Court Justice Grant Campbell found two lawyers provided incompetent counsel while representing parents in a family law case that he said shows the poor state of the child welfare system in Canada. "The child welfare system in Ontario is broken. The patchwork of child welfare legislation spread across Canada is not working," Campbell said in his ruling. This is no earth-shattering revelation. In December 2016, Bill 89: Supporting Children, Youth and Fami- lies Act 2016 was introduced in Ontario. Lawyers are welcoming the update of laws affecting children in need. But legislating to protect vulnerable children is a tricky task. As a reporter who spoke to many child welfare workers and offi- cials, as well as adults who suffered deeply damaging treatment as chil- dren in care, I heard many repeat the same principle — children should always remain with their families and in their communities where possible. That is why I hope legislators, child welfare officials and the lawyers that act for them listen carefully to lawyer Jessica Gagné. "I personally feel that certain societies are much quicker to go to court without any attempt to support the parents," she says. "I often think, 'Why was this option one?' It's very common and I am slightly pessimistic that that will change." Child welfare means investing in family welfare and community welfare. "One only need glance at any newspaper or T.V. news report to rec- Activist agenda targets natural gas BY IAN HARVEY W ould you buy a home that was heated electrically? At today's prices? No, seriously. Stop laughing, it's no joke. It's exactly what the Ontario government intends with its climate change-driven revamp of the On- tario Building Code. Despite appearing to back off from when they first f loated the idea last May, it appears the ruling Ontario Liberals are still full steam ahead on changes to the Building Code, which would see all new homes built by 2030 be near-net-zero- carbon homes. Near-net-zero-carbon homes are places built to high-energy efficiency standards, which is laudable in theory. Who doesn't want good insulation, good windows and efficient heating and cool- ing technology? The problem is the reli- ance on unproven technology. The home must also rely either on pro- ducing as much energy as it consumes with near-zero carbon emissions or in en- suring it draws only on power that doesn't emit locally; though, clearly, some forms of electricity generation emit at source. This is required regardless of whether the house is in balmy Niagara or freezing Timmins, Ont. And that's the issue, says Paul De Berardis, the director of building science and inno- vation at RESCON, a building industry group that represents residential construction la- bour unions, as well as apart- ment and residential builders. "There's an operational cost in going to net zero if you are cutting emissions and go- ing fully electric," says De Be- rardis. "You're not going to be able to use any natural gas to heat the space." For gas companies, it is a business model killer. Why bear the cost of running a natu- ral gas line into a new housing develop- ment if those new occupants aren't going to be able to use it for much more than barbecuing outside? Will they also be barred from having gas stoves or water heaters? Some may recall that 30 years ago or more, there was a push to get homes off oil heating and on to electric heating. It was a trend that didn't last long because elec- tric heating is notoriously inefficient and why about 75 per cent of Ontario homes now rely on natural gas. Indeed, this same government is subsidizing the expansion of natural gas lines to rural homeowners, who are currently stuck on oil or propane or electric heat. "It was already a failed idea," says De Berardis. "And now it seems to have come full circle." Installing solar panels is getting cheaper, but by the time you add in the invert- ers and other equipment, not to mention batteries, you're into tens of thousands of dol- lars. Selling your excess power back to the grid isn't going to f ly either, after those generous purchase rates disappeared because they were un- sustainable. The other option being pushed is geo- thermal energy. The Canada Green Build- ing Council, however, says it isn't cost ef- fective for single-family homes, and it, too, runs on costly electricity, as do heat pumps. In extreme cold — below -20 C — additional heating sources may be needed no matter how insulated the home is. This is an activist government driven by its own dogma. The impetus for this change and several others can be traced back to the Ontario government's Climate Change Action Plan released last year. "The average new home puts out less [greenhouse gas emissions] than a car driven 15,000 kilometres a year," says De Berardis. "It really isn't going to have much impact because there's a huge installed base of homes in Ontario and not that many new homes are built every year." Indeed, in 2011, Statistics Canada counted some 2.7 million single-family homes in Ontario with some 40,000 new single-family homes built each year. "The Building Code changes incre- mentally, usually with tried and tested advancements," says De Berardis. "This is making changes without any knowl- edge. We don't know what technologies will be available in 2030." There are some 500 changes pro- posed to the OBC; most are prudent, iterative changes. However, as Michael Steele, director of technical standards at RESCON, says, many of them simply haven't been thought through, triggering the "law of unintended consequences." I agree. Using a regulatory regime as a blunt instrument without any clue as to the true costs or impact on future home- owners is not progress. It's regression. LT uIan Harvey has been a journalist for more than 40 years writing about a di- verse range of issues including legal and political affairs. His email address is ianharvey@rogers.com. ognize that the present systems in place designed to protect Canada's children is failing the most vul- nerable of our population," said Campbell. "We have had a Truth and Reconciliation Com- mission and now the Murdered and Missing In- digenous Women enquiry to try to retrospectively figure out how we as a society have failed our indig- enous citizens." He's right. LT ©2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reli- ance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. LT.editor@thomsonreuters.com CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $205.00 + HST per year in Canada for print and online (HST Reg. #R121351134), $199 + HST per year for online only. Single copies are $5.00. Circulation inquiries, postal returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto ON, M1T 3V4. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Keith Fulford at .............. 416-649-9585 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . or fax: 416-649-7870 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 or call: Business Development Consultant: Ivan Ivanovitch ...................................416-887-4300 ivan.ivanovitch@tr.com Client Development Manager: Grace So .............................................416-903-4473 grace.so@tr.com Account Manager: Kimberlee Pascoe ...............................416-996-1739 kimberlee.pascoe@tr.com Account Executive: Steffanie Munroe ................................416-315-5879 steffanie.munroe@tr.com Law Times Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON • M1T 3V4 • Tel: 416-298-5141 • Fax: 416-649-7870 www.lawtimesnews.com LT.editor@thomsonreuters.com • @lawtimes Director/Group Publisher . . . . . . . . . Karen Lorimer Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Brown Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabrielle Giroday Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alex Robinson Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Cancilla CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leah Craven Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phyllis Barone Production Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . .Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist . . . Derek Welford Queen's Park Ian Harvey

• Cover