Rachel's Bits and Briefs

Food Fight

If you have been out and about in Toronto lately, you may have noticed the A La Cart vendors that have been popping up.

If not, you’re in for a treat.

The Toronto Sun reported on a decision last December by Toronto City Council to allow the Toronto Public Health pilot project “A La Cart.”

For some, however, the decision came with a price. Existing hot dog vendors who have paid thousands of dollars in licensing fees have been excluded from the new project:

"We were hoping our menus could be changed as well," said Marianne Moroney, executive director of the Street Food Vendors Association, which represents about 100 Toronto hot dog vendors.

"They talk about ethnic diversity, well, we have 25 spoken languages in our membership. The project should've been hatched through our members who are highly regulated and already have street experience, but we were shut out of the process."

After presenting a business plan and paying $40,000.00 for the new A La Cart cart and location fee, eight vendors were chosen. One of the stipulations of this decision was that the owners had to agree to work 70% of the time and pre-cook their dishes in a kitchen.

Here are where some of Toronto's new street delicacies can be found:

Nathan Philips Square – Biryani and Souvlaki

Roadhouse Park – Inerja

St. Clair Avenue & Yonge Street – Jerk Chicken

Mel Lastman Square – Pad Thai

Metro Hall – Kebabs

Queen’s Park – Kebab Wraps

Yonge St. & Eglinton Avenue – Bulgogi with Kimchi

Unveiled: The Amended Canadian Citizen Act

On April 17^th, 2009 the Amended Canadian Citizenship Act (C.C.A.) came in to effect. The Lawyers Weekly reports that the new Act contains major changes.

Highlights of the new C.C.A. include granting Canadian Citizenship to those who lost citizenship as a result of the preceding amendments, restoring citizenship to those who were forced to renounce their Canadian Citizenship when they became citizens of other countries, and granting citizenship to those who were not previously qualified.

In addition,

“The new Act denies automatic citizenship to the grandchildren of Canadians living abroad. According to the Canadian government, by denying citizenship to second-generation children and beyond, the Act is protecting the value of Canadian citizenship.”

The amendments arose in response to recent U.S. immigration policy changes which included the tightening of border security. Due to these changes, many travelers, who had assumed they were citizens, were denied Canadian passports.

The article sets out additional changes enacted by the amendments:

The new law restores citizenship to those who had become citizens when the first Citizenship Act was enacted on Jan. 1, 1947, including people born in Canada prior to 1947 and war brides. It also restores citizenship to other British subjects who had lived in Canada for at least five years before 1947, became citizens on Jan. 1, 1947 and subsequently lost citizenship.

The new law restores citizenship to people who were born in Canada or who became citizens on or after Jan. 1, 1947 and then lost their citizenship as a result of becoming a citizen of another country (dual citizenship was not permitted prior to 1977). It gives citizenship to some people who were never citizens. This includes people who were born outside Canada on or after Jan. 1, 1947 and are first-generation descendents born abroad to Canadian citizens.”

Others will not gain citizenship:

...It does not include people who did not become citizens when the first Citizenship Act took effect on Jan. 1, 1947 or who were born in Canada but are not citizens because one of their parents was a foreign diplomat and neither parent was a permanent resident or citizen of Canada.

Those who did not gain citizenship under the new amendments include those who renounced their citizenship as adults with the Canadian government; who were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent and were not already citizens; who lost their citizenship in the past; who were born in the second or next generation abroad (this includes people who failed to retain citizenship); or who had their citizenship revoked by the government because it was obtained by fraud.”

Previously, the law permitted Canadians to pass their citizenship on to each generation born outside of Canada. A significant change referred to as the “first-generation limitation” allows children born to Canadian parents who were the first generation outside of Canada, to be granted Canadian citizenship if either parent was born in Canada or if one became a Canadian citizen by immigrating and being granted Canadian citizenship.

An interesting exception applies to all children born to a Canadian parent working for Canadian Forces or the Canadian federal or provincial governments, who will be granted citizenship.

The Green Energy & Green Economy Act

The Ontario Green Energy Act website notes the recent passage of the Green Energy & Green Economy Act (GE & EA) which has been said to be beneficial from not only a climate and environmental perspective, but also as an investment in new companies and employment.

The Act aims to improve conservation programs, promote investment in renewable energy projects through North America's first feed-in tariff program, and create green jobs. The Act, introduced in November 2008, is the cornerstone of the government's plan to put Ontario on a path towards reducing Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions, while becoming a leader in the emerging global renewable energy sector.

Various industries are on board with the new Act. Many see it as a positive step in combatting the Province's current economic crisis:

"With today's passage of the Green Energy Act, and the investments to support it, Ontario is starting down the road to a green jobs future," said Ken Neumann, National Director of United Steelworkers of Canada. "The members of our union are ready and eager to produce the next generation of clean energy products and parts, such as steel for windmills and glass for solar panels. The future of manufacturing in Ontario lays, in part, in the green jobs of the future."

- Rachel Spence, Legal Assistant, Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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