Posts by Paula Boutis and Laura Bowman

Bill C‑38 creates open season on Canada’s natural environment

June 8th, 2012 by Paula Boutis and Laura Bowman

On April 26, 2012, the federal government tabled Bill C-38, the 2012  Budget Bill.  The Bill was reviewed before the Standing Committee on Finance which just released its report recommending that part 3 of the Bill be carried as written.  Part 3 of Bill C-38 contains several significant changes to federal environmental legislation, including:

  • the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act,
  • the National Energy Board Act,
  • the Canadian Oil and Gas Operations Act,
  • the Nuclear Safety and Control Act,
  • the Fisheries Act,
  • the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and
  • the Species at Risk Act.

Here we describe highlights of the two most important legislative changes, to CEAA and the Fisheries Act.

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Changes to the Income Tax Act will restrict charities’ political activities

May 15th, 2012 by Paula Boutis

On April 26, 2012, the federal government introduced Bill C‑38, which contains proposed changes to the Income Tax Act (Canada) (ITA) affecting charities and how political activities are to be accounted for, in the context of a gift from one charity to another.

We provide a brief summary of the current legislative provisions, the proposed changes, and the impact of the changes on charitable foundations and organizations.
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Proposed Changes to Fish Habitat Provisions of the Fisheries Act

April 18th, 2012 by Laura Bowman and Paula Boutis

In mid‑March 2012, a number of news outlets reported that the Harper government is looking at significant changes to the wording of the Fisheries Act after they were leaked to Otto Langer.

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Ontario Government will amend Endangered Species Act to reflect how the Ministry of Natural Resources actually works: without regard for science

March 29th, 2012 by Paula Boutis

The Ontario Government released its budget on March 27, 2012.  In it, it stated the following:

Ministry of Natural Resources Transformation

To enable the Ministry of Natural Resources to transform the stewardship and conservation of Ontario’s natural resources in the most fiscally responsible way, the ministry is proposing to:

  • transform key parts of its legislation, regulations, policies and guidelines with a view to streamlining and automating permitting processes and requirements;
  • conduct resource management with a stronger regional focus and fewer field offices; and
  • redesign its science and delivery activities to shift away from a species-by-species approach to a risk-based ecosystem/regional approach.

The Province is proposing amendments to the Endangered Species Act that maintain its commitment to protecting species at risk while streamlining approvals and permitting.

Earlier this year, we wrote about Sierra Club Canada’s application in the courts challenging the first permit issued to harm species at risk and/or their habitat under the Endangered Species Act (Act) After a loss at the Divisional Court, Sierra Club Canada sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal, which was denied.

As counsel for Sierra Club Canada, I had an in‑depth look at how the first permit was issued to harm species or their habitat for the Windsor Essex Parkway (WEP).  I can certainly attest to the fact that a lot of work was done by the Ministry of Natural Resources in “going through the process” required by the Act; but it was Sierra Club Canada’s conclusion, that when viewed objectively, one would be hard pressed to say that there would be no jeopardy to the recovery or survival of certain of the species at risk affected by the WEP, as the Endangered Species Act requires.  In particular, this was Sierra Club Canada’s view for three species affected by the project, Eastern Foxsnake (Carolinian Population), Butler’s Gartersnake, and Colicroot, a plant species.

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Defamation, SLAPP suits, and the Internet Age

January 13th, 2012 by Paula Boutis and Tim Petrou

The Internet represents a communications revolution. It makes instantaneous global communication available cheaply to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. It enables individuals, institutions, and companies to communicate with a potentially vast global audience. It is a medium which does not respect geographical boundaries. Concomitant with the utopian possibility of creating virtual communities, enabling aspects of identity to be explored, and heralding a new and global age of free speech and democracy, the Internet is also potentially a medium of virtually limitless international defamation [emphasis added]. 1

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  1. Matthew Collins, The Law of Defamation and the Internet (Oxford University Press, 2001), at para. 24.02

Wither Ontario’s Endangered Species?

January 12th, 2012 by Paula Boutis

On January 10, 2011, the Environmental Commissioner’s released his special report “Biodiversity:  A Nation’s Commitment, an Obligation for Ontario.”  The Commissioner’s Press release is aptly titled “Ontario Government Missing in Action to Halt the Loss of Biodiversity.”

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