Wednesday, October 31, 2012 The Canadian government is preparing to ratify the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) possibly as early as tomorrow (November 1st) – an agreement which many individuals and organizations, including West Coast Environmental Law, have grave and deep concerns about. But one clear legal
Continue readingTag: other issues
Environmental Law Alert Blog: Lessons from a fish farm defamation lawsuit
Friday, October 12, 2012 Congratulations to Don Staniford – and his lawyer, David Sutherland – who, last month, defeated a lawsuit brought against him by fish farm giant, Mainstream Canada (with help from our Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund)! The fish farm company had sued Don for a series of mock
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Will your tax dollars subsidize BC’s unsustainable fish farms?
Tuesday, August 14, 2012 How’s this for a business model: You bring together thousands of fish, stick them in an open net in the ocean, despite warnings that the conditions invite infectious disease, and then, when they all get sick, you receive compensation from the Canadian taxpayer. Both Grieg Seafood
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Don’t do the environmental crime if you can’t pay the fine
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 Imagine that a corporation is charged, convicted and fined for destroying your local stream. Now imagine that they don't pay the fine. Imagine that more money has to be spent to hassle them through collection agencies and legal demand letters to pay the fine, but that
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Burns Bog, Strathcona Park cases ask: who owns BC’s protected areas?
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 Two legal cases are underway, funded by West Coast Environmental Law, argue that the government has a responsibility to manage protected areas for the benefit of BC's public and future generations. Burns Bog v. Canada, which challenges the impact of the South Fraser Perimeter Road on
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: Canada’s Fisheries Act after Bill C-38
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 Postmedia reporter, Mike DeSouza, has recently released several slides from Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff explaining how the current Canadian Fisheries Act is intended to protect fish habitat, including a slide clearly setting out the current legal protection for fish habit. Bill C-38, if fully implemented,
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Will Bill C-38 offload fisheries to the provinces?
Friday, June 15, 2012 Bill C-38, the Budget Implementation Bill, with its various amendments to Canada’s environmental laws, is a complicated statute, with many long-term implications that have not been fully explored. One of the most significant, however, has to be the possibility that the Bill may have the effect
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: The rise and fall of the Animal Health Act
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 Campaigns to ensure that BC’s environmental laws protect the environment and allow democratic voices to be heard can take years. Or, as we saw last week, they can result in a win for the environment in a matter of weeks. The government has dropped its Bill
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Two reports on pesticide risks
Thursday, May 31, 2012 When a politician says that his report is about the science, and not about the politics, it’s probably wise to take that claim with a grain of salt. That’s made crystal clear by two studies released in the last month about the risks of pesticides –
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 readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Who is silenced by the animal health law?
Friday, May 25, 2012 You may have read about a provision in the proposed Animal Health Act which would make it illegal for journalists or scientists to report on animal illnesses at fish farms or other agricultural operations. But the Minister of Agriculture, who is responsible for the Bill, insists
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Pesticide Incidents confirm that domestic pesticides pose risks
Friday, May 11, 2012 As the BC Legislature’s Special Committee on Cosmetic Pesticides grapples with the question of whether to ban the use of cosmetic pesticides, a recent report by Health Canada seems to confirm that humans, pets and the environment have something to fear from such pesticides. The Pesticide
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: Limiting fish protection to “serious harm” is a serious problem
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 The federal government’s Budget Implementation Bill, Bill C-38, recently introduced in Parliament, is self-servingly called the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act 2012, which is ironic because most Canadians recognize that you can’t have long-term prosperity by destroying wild stocks of fish. If you agree, you’re
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: How should we slap back at SLAPPs?
Wednesday, April 11, 2012 In the wake of recent David vs. Goliath lawsuits by Taseko Mines against the Wilderness Committee and Mainstream Canada against Don Staniford, it's timely to ask how we can best defend freedom of speech. Staniford's lawyer, David Sutherland, proposes a legal change that would prevent corporations
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Drinking water wins in Jefferd Creek logging battle
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 In 2004 the residents of the tiny community of Stillwater, near Powell River, learned that BC Timber Sales (BCTS) was planning to auction off the rights to clearcut 12.5 hectares in the Jefferd Creek watershed, which is the source of their drinking water. Well, it’s been
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: Fisheries Act amendments would be an attack on Salmon
Monday, March 19, 2012 Last week fisheries biologist, Otto Langer, went public with a leaked draft of proposed amendments to the federal Fisheries Act which would remove any mention of fish habitat from the Act. When asked about these rumours in Parliament the government seemed to confirm that changes along
Continue reading