Thursday, September 18, 2014 We believe that BC’s incorporated societies – community development organizations, church groups, secular groups, community organizations, hunting groups, and, yes, environmental organizations such as West Coast Environmental Law Association – collectively make for a stronger British Columbia. That is why we’re outraged by a BC Government
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Environmental Law Alert Blog: Who writes Canada’s Environmental Laws?
Wednesday, September 17, 2014 We’ve written before about the apparent and unacceptable influence of the oil and gas industry on Canada’s environmental laws, which may have extended to a suggestion that the Canadian government roll multiple amendments into omnibus budget bills (as it did in 2012). Two documents obtained recently
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Field Notes From the Fifth (and Final) Tar Sands Healing Walk
Wednesday, July 9, 2014 June 28, 2014 marked the 5th and final Tar Sands Healing Walk, a grassroots event organized by local Indigenous communities in the heart of the tar sands development. This was not a protest or a march, nor was it about disrupting the work of the energy
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Foresters, biologists, planners take on the “fundamental impacts” of Climate Change
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 Governments and businesses rely heavily on the advice of professionals on a wide range of environmental, resource management and land use planning decisions. That’s why it’s critical that the professionals who are making key decisions about our ecosystems and the evolution of our communities know about
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: How not dealing with climate change is killing our economy
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 The costs of climate change are being hotly debated. Prime Minister Harper has suggested that strong policies that address climate change will hurt jobs and the economy. But a growing body of evidence shows that addressing climate change not only saves Canadians from real financial loss,
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia: Implications for the Enbridge Tankers and Pipelines Project
Friday, June 27, 2014 On June 26, 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision in Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia marked a watershed moment in the long journey of First Nations peoples to achieve recognition of their inherent title and authority over their ancestral territories. With the first court
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Field Notes: a Visit to Lummi Nation’s Sacred Summit and the Protection of the Salish Sea
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 The 10 day Water Festival hosted by The Lummi Nation of Washington State wrapped up on June 22nd. I had the opportunity to attend part of the festival, along with another law student volunteer and WCEL Staff Lawyer, Eugene Kung. The part we were present for
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Canada’s Enbridge decision: An annotated guide
Thursday, June 19, 2014 If you've read the federal government's June 17 press release about Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal, you might be wondering what it all means. Here's our quick take on it. If you've read the federal government's June 17 press release about Enbridge's pipelines and tankers proposal (AKA
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Weakening BC’s environmental laws risks eroding social licence for Government’s Cleanest LNG goals
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 Several of the most contentious changes to environmental laws passed during the 2014 spring session of the BC Legislature seem to have been developed, and pushed through, in a mad rush and without adequate public consultation. The goal of these laws seems, at least in part,
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Challenging U.S. Coal to China from Texada Island, BC
Friday, June 13, 2014 Should BC be used to trans-ship American coal to China? Who gets to decide? And what does that mean for our environment? These issues and others will be considered in a legal challenge brought by Voters Taking Action on Climate Change (VTACC), with support from our
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Should Chevron pay for the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic?
Thursday, May 22, 2014 The Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic – a direct result of climate change – has cost British Columbia billions in lost timber value alone – a reality that has influenced the public consciousness of British Columbians about the cost of climate change. Public awareness that climate change
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Why amendments to Bill 24 don’t protect agricultural land
Wednesday, May 21, 2014 Thank you to everyone who spoke up to oppose Bill 24 – the proposed Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, 2014. Your voices played an important role in slowing the progress of this bill and in convincing the government that changes to the Bill were necessary. So
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Report from an All Clans Gathering: Why Ignoring Indigenous Laws on the Enbridge Pipeline is Risky Business
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 On April 11, 2014, the Yinka Dene Alliance (“YDA”) held an All Clans Gathering in Nak’azdli (adjacent to Fort St. James) in order for their leaders and elders to issue reasons for the rejection of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in a gathering according to their
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: “Certainty” for Fish Farms Could Mean Uncertain Future for Fish
Monday, April 28, 2014 New regulations under the Fisheries Act allow Canada’s Fisheries and Environment Ministers to give blanket authorization to cause pollution in fish habitat in a range of circumstances, including pollution from fish farm companies seeking to control “pests” or invasive species. These regulations are the latest in
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: The lowdown on changes to BC’s environmental laws
Monday, April 14, 2014 The current session of the BC Legislature has kept us quite busy. While we’ve had occasion to discuss several bills in our Environmental Law Alert, we haven’t even mentioned a host of others that we are following with interest. This session, the BC government has introduced
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: The government invites you to “adjust” BC’s park laws
Friday, April 4, 2014 It’s generally bad news for the environment & democracy when the government rewrites laws at the request of an industry. But when it comes to provincial parks, the BC government has gone one step further, and actually has an official policy setting out how industry should
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Taseko Mines, what part of “No” don’t you understand?
Monday, March 31, 2014 Last month, the federal government rejected Taseko Mines’proposal to build the controversial New Prosperity Project. Again. But Taseko is going to court arguing that the environmental assessment process that resulted in a “No” for the second time was based on an error, and that it should
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: New law will regulate Off Road Vehicles
Monday, March 10, 2014 With the BC Legislature’s Spring Session in full swing, there are lots of new, proposed laws to read and comment on, and we’ve been drawing your attention to legislation that we view as problematic (related to Parks and ownership of lakes, for example), but not all
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: When a U.S. billionaire claims BC fish and lakes
Friday, March 7, 2014 Can a private resort company own a lake? If so, are the fish in the lake private or public? And can the resort keep the public from fishing in that lake? These critical questions are central to a David vs. Goliath battle unfolding in BC’s Nicola
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Climate leadership from BC Foresters
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 A little more than a week ago (on February 13th), the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP) awarded its first ever “Climate Change Innovators” Award to Alex Woods, a Forest Pathologist working for the BC Government. The launch of this award, a clear statement on the
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