Friday, November 8, 2013 About one out of every four British Columbians relies on wells for drinking water. Groundwater is also essential to BC’s agricultural sector and is critical for habitat for salmon and other fish species. So it’s welcome news that BC is planning to finally regulate groundwater use
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Environmental Law Alert Blog: BC is (still) Not for Sale
Thursday, November 7, 2013 Media headlines are trumpeting this week’s agreement between Premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford regarding tar sands infrastructure in BC. In our opinion, however, this agreement brings the Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipeline proposals no closer to reality. Media headlines are trumpeting this week’s agreement between
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Water for fish and the Water Sustainability Act
Tuesday, November 5, 2013 Imagine a lake, stream or river that you love. Or perhaps rely upon for your drinking water or livelihood. That’s what the current BC government consultations on a new Water Sustainability Act – which are going on until November 15th – are about: is the government
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Say no to cosmetic pesticide use
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 It was only two years ago that Premier Christie Clark promised that the province would ban cosmetic pesticide use– pesticide use on lawns and ornamental plants. But much has happened in a year, and the province is instead currently consulting on regulations that will allow cosmetic
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Will local government election rules silence the public?
Monday, October 21, 2013 Local government elections should be about communities discussing their problems, and electing people who will address those problems. Making a home-made lawn-sign or printing a few leaflets should be a basic right. Unfortunately, major changes being considered for the Local Government Act would require not just
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Will BC’s proposed Water Sustainability Act really be sustainable?
Friday, October 18, 2013 British Columbians have been waiting for a new Water Act (our current one is 104 years old and has its problems), and now that wait may be finally coming to an end with today’s release of a “legislative proposal” for a new Water Sustainability Act. We’ll
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Why Anna’s going to Washington
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 Recently we asked our readers to write to the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to talk about their concerns with the Canadian government’s actions in dismantling our environmental laws in omnibus budget bills (Bills C-38 and C-45). Well, now we’re taking those concerns to Washington, DC
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: What shielding Water Act violators says about BC’s environmental enforcement
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 Last Tuesday (October 8th), the Province paper had an important story – Environment ministry continues to shield Water Act violators – about the Ministry of Environment’s refusal to identify companies and people that don’t pay their fines for violating the Water Act, based on a government
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Should water managers put their head in the sand about climate change, or not?
Friday, October 11, 2013 Recently West Coast Staff Lawyer, Deborah Carlson, spoke to the Climate Change Committee of the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA) about whether local governments and professionals dealing with water management more or less likely to be sued if they seriously examine for climate impacts. The
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Climate change proven beyond a reasonable doubt
Friday, September 27, 2013 The Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the first of 4 reports that make up its 5th Assessment Report. This first report documents the scientific consensus related to rising global temperatures, confirming that humans are “extremely”, or 95%, likely to be
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: First Nations warn Enbridge against trespass as BC moves to grant preliminary work permits
Tuesday, September 17, 2013 The Yinka Dene Alliance (YDA), composed of six Carrier Sekani First Nations, is ramping up the enforcement of its own laws in the face of Enbridge’s efforts to begin preliminary work in YDA traditional territories to prepare for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. Meanwhile, the BC
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Whither climate change litigation and compensation?
Monday, September 9, 2013 Many people seem surprised when I mention the possibility that greenhouse gas emitting companies may one day be held liable for the damages caused by climate change. And yet, there is no other context in which businesses could cause billions of dollars of damages in Canada
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Are Canada’s climate laws a negotiating chip in TransCanada’s poker game
Friday, September 6, 2013 CBC is reporting that Prime Minister Harper has sent a letter to U.S. President Obama offering to commit to greenhouse gas regulations in return for the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. We also wonder what it says about Canada that concern for our children and
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: The Lemon Creek jet spill and emergency release of data
Thursday, August 29, 2013 I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to have your drinking water, and your entire community, contaminated with jet fuel. So when some folks who live near Lemon Creek contacted West Coast looking to find out what they had been exposed to, we
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Spot the difference between two gas industry maps
Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Remember when Enbridge accidentally left hundreds of islands off the maps it submitted in support of the environmental assessment of its Pipelines and Tankers project? Well, it turns out that Enbridge is not the only cartographically-challenged oil and gas company. Can you see what's missing from
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Lack of footnotes costs fish farm activist $75,000
Tuesday, July 30, 2013 On Monday, July 22nd the BC Court of Appeal ordered well-known anti- fish farm activist Don Staniford to pay $75,000 in damages because the mock cigarette packages he had made criticizing Norwegian fish farm companies lacked footnotes. What does this mean for fish farm activists? For
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Canadians stand up for fish
Friday, July 12, 2013 A great many Canadians, from many different backgrounds, have been standing up for fish – saying no to changes to the law that would gut legal protection for fish habitat. Wildlife organizations and local governments that the government says are on-side are saying no. First Nations
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Albertans, not Exxon Mobil, are paying the price for carbon
Thursday, July 4, 2013 It’s safe to say that Exxon Mobil, and other companies responsible for large amounts of greenhouse gas pollution, don’t intend to pay for the $3 Billion to $5 Billion to clean up Alberta’s floods, or any climate-change related costs suffered by Alberta or other jurisdictions. But
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Health Canada fiddles while bees burned by pesticides
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 Earlier this month, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), an arm of Health Canada that regulates pesticides, released its report into the deaths of honey bees in Ontario and Quebec that occurred in the Spring of 2012 – concluding that certain pesticides (known as neonicotinoids) likely
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Canada v. Australia on Climate Science
Thursday, June 20, 2013 This week is a good time to think about climate science, and especially how governments listen to, and act on, the recommendations of climate experts. It’s a good time to think about climate experts here in Canada, because one year ago the Canadian government got rid
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