Ontario Human Rights Commission launches new policy to address when rights collide

May 16th, 2012 by Celia Chandler

Smokers and non smokers living side by side; staff with guide dogs and others who are allergic to dogs working in the same office; religious based education and gay straight alliances – these are the kinds of clashes that the new “Policy on Competing Human Rights” is intended to address.

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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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Aggregate hearings should include rural residents who are most affected

May 10th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

Our client, North Dufferin  Agricultural  and Community Taskforce, Inc. (NDACT) was surprised on Friday May 4 to learn that the Standing Committee on General Government would be commencing the review of the Aggregate Resources Act the following Monday May 7, and that aggregate resource reps were already informed and scheduled to appear.

To make matters worse, no hearings were scheduled in rural communities.  These communities are most affected by the policies in the ARA, which unfairly favour aggregate extraction over other policy objectives.  Our client wrote to the Standing Committee on General Government asking for more time for a more thorough review and for rural hearings.  This request was entirely reasonable and was granted yesterday when the Committee moved to request travelling hearings.

Read Carl Cosack, chair of NDACT’s letter here.

The costs of hiding environmental information

April 26th, 2012 by Iler Campbell LLP

Laura Bowman wrote our Pro Bono column on rabble.ca this month. In it, she discusses access to environmental information:

For citizens and NGOs who want to challenge environmental decisions, the biggest obstacle is usually obtaining information about the potential environmental effects of a decision or project.  In the 1990s, the Ontario government passed the Environmental Bill of Rights which was supposed to make access to environmental information easier.

Read the column here

Rumours about forthcoming federal environmental assessment changes abound

April 19th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

On April 17, Joe Oliver, federal Minister of Natural Resources made announcements and gave interviews about the fate of Canada’s beleaguered federal environmental assessment law, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.  No specific amendments have been provided, so it is difficult to understand exactly what the government is proposing to do.

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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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