Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Jay Nelson has a unique perspective on the new Canadian Environmental …
Continue readingTag: Environmental Assessment
Environmental Law Alert Blog: New Prosperity News – Comment by September 28th!
Monday, September 24, 2012 On September 14th, the federal Review Panel conducting the New Prosperity environmental assessment released three documents. Two describe the approach that the Panel proposes to use for “Confidentiality” and for the panel’s Hearing Procedures, respectively, and invites the public to comment on these procedures. The third
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Douglas Channel Islands: Enbridge erases, Lori Waters replaces
Monday, September 17, 2012 One Sunday morning, Lori Waters received an intriguing link to the “Route Safety” animation videos for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. As one of many British Columbians opposed to the pipeline and to any lifting of the tanker ban along our coast, she watched Enbridge’s
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: 5 rules for a science-based decision on the Enbridge Pipelines
Monday, August 13, 2012 Prime Minister Harper was in Vancouver on August 7 and took the opportunity to tell Canadians that any decision on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines and tankers project would be made through an “independent process” and on the basis of science, not politics. The Prime Minister
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Enbridge foes: Schedule your statement so you don’t get Calgaried
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 All right, maybe Calgary is not a verb. But if you’re among the 4000+ Canadians who have registered to make an oral presentation to the National Energy Board Joint Review Panel (JRP) that’s considering the controversial Enbridge Pipelines and Tankers Project, and you haven’t scheduled a
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Six Questions for your MP about Bill C-38
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 With Bill C-38 before the Senate, Members of Parliament (MPs) have gone home from Ottawa. There they will doubtless receive a warm welcome from their constituents, as well as questions about the Budget and why attacks to Canada's environment and the laws that support it were
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: West Coast goes to Ottawa to talk about how the Omnibus Bill will harm Canada
Thursday, June 14, 2012 On May 31, 2012, I travelled to Ottawa, on behalf of West Coast Environmental Law Association, to speak in person about the budget bill’s attack on nature and democracy to the House of Commons Finance Subcommittee on Part 3 of Budget Bill C-38. What is Part 3
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Groundswell of Citizen Action for Nature and Democracy
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 On June 4th, the Black Out Speak Out day of action, over 550 organisations, representing millions of citizens, darkened our websites in a symbolic show of support for nature and democracy, while tens of thousands of Canadians tweeted, blogged, signed petitions and wrote their decision-makers. Media
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: On importing U.S. “Job-Killing” rhetoric
Monday, May 28, 2012 The phrase “job killing regulation” is beginning to enter Canadian discussions about environmental laws and Bill C-38 – the Budget Implementation Bill which would repeal several laws that protect nature, democracy and marginalized society. This phrase has been embraced by politicians in the U.S. who are
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Canadian Environmental Groups Black Out to Speak Out Against Government Threats to Nature & Democracy
Blackoutspeakout.png With full page ads in the Globe and Mail and La Presse national newspapers, a major coalition of Canadian environmental non-profits have come together to launch the Black Out Speak Out campaign (Silence, on parle! pour la Francophonie.) CPAWS, David Suzuki Foundation, Ecojustice, Equiterre, Environmental Defence, Greenpeace, Nature Canada, Pembina
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Why we should all Black Out and Speak Out
Monday, May 7, 2012 The Black Out Speak Out campaign wants to mobilize concerned citizens, businesses and organizations across the country to speak out for Canadian democracy and our environment on June 4th. Our websites will be going black for a day as a symbolic start of a major online
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Special treatment for oil industry means poor environmental laws
Thursday, May 3, 2012 The roll-back of Canada’s environmental laws – legal environmental protection that Canadians have worked for decades to put in place – give the oil and gas industry a host of changes that they've been asking for for years. While other industries will benefit, It may be
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Multi-Partisan Approach to Environmental Protection
I am a strong believer in the Green Party. It plays an essential role. Environmentalists cannot afford to patiently wait around for traditional parties to see the light and pass the necessary laws to avert catastrophe. That being said, Canadians have been slow to embrace the Green Party, and that
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Who is silenced under Canada’s new environmental assessment act?
Friday, April 27, 2012 With the release of the proposed new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, we can say a bit more about the possible impact of changes to environmental assessment on the right of the public to participate in assessments. Our initial analysis of Bill C-38 suggests that there
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: “Directly affected” silences hunters, fishers, landowners … and environmentalists
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver, recently stated that proposed changes to Canada’s environmental laws will (if passed) prevent anyone who is not “directly affected” from speaking at environmental reviews. But public participation has always been central to environmental assessment. "Directly affected" is a narrow legal test
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: The goal: “One process” that complies with Canada’s international commitments
Friday, April 20, 2012 20 years ago Canada signed the Rio Declaration, committing us to carry out "environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument … [on] proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a competent national
Continue readingPolitics Canada: Northern Gateway pipeline gets the advanced green light
Natural Resources minister Joe Oliver announced the ‘streamlining’ of the federal environmental assessment process. What was not mentioned in the press release or by the minister was that final approval can now be given by the federal cabinet i.e. Harper himself even if it the board deems a project too
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Oliver’s Twist: So Long Federal Environmental Oversight
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver — yes, the one who labelled environmentalists foreign-backed radicals — announced a major overhaul today in how environmental assessments will be conducted in Canada. Not surprisingly, the government is limiting the ability of environmental groups to take part in public hearings, shortening the length of
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Defending Canada’s Environmental Laws is just common sense
Thursday, March 29, 2012 Or “What your Mom taught you about Canada’s environmental laws” With a wide range of Canada’s environmental laws apparently on the chopping block in the coming weeks, and environmentalists under attack across the country, it has never been more important for Canadians to stand up for
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: The fast and the furious – Coming changes to environmental laws speed up process for industry and are an accident waiting to happen for the public and our environment
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 The federal government seems set on further gutting theCanadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), and is expected to introduce “sweeping” regulatory changes to CEAA and related legislation in the House of Commons in the coming weeks. These changes could affect upcoming proposals for pipelines, tar sands projects,
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