Sage-Grouse petition ignored by federal government

January 18th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

Ecojustice filed a petition in November demanding that federal Environment Minister Peter Kent issue an emergency order to protect a sagebrush prairie bird from extirpation from Canada.  They relied on provisions in the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) (section 80(2)) allowing the Minister to recommend emergency protection of the endangered Sage-Grouse and stop further human disturbance in the habitat the birds need to survive. The petition, sent on behalf of an international coalition of 12 environmental groups, demanded that the Minister respond by Jan. 16.

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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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The Politics of enforcing laws protecting Polar Bears in Canada

January 11th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

The U.S. Center for Biological Diversity recently filed a petition at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, that Canada is not effectively enforcing the Species At Risk Act (SARA) by failing to list and protect the Polar Bear as an endangered or threatened species.  Currently, the Polar Bear is listed as a species of special concern.  SARA sets up a process for listing that is intended to be based on objective science (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada or COSEWIC).  Although COSEWIC’s last evaluation raised alarm bells about the future of Polar Bears, the Minister has not listed them.  There are continued controversies over which population units of the Bears should be protected and how.

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Have we ever got news for you! MEGA-NEWS!

December 19th, 2011 by Iler Campbell LLP

Our holiday card just arrived in the mail … along with a whole bunch of other stuff…

Check it out!

Uncertain environmental impacts remain difficult to challenge

December 14th, 2011 by Laura Bowman

Liard First Nation v. Yukon Territory (Minister of Energy, Mines & Resources), 2011 YKSC 55 (pdf)

The Liard First Nation is in the southeast Yukon. The First Nation participated in the territorial environmental assessment (EA) of a proposed quartz mine by Selwyn Chihong in the Howard’s pass area near Watson Lake.  After consultations with Liard FN the Yukon designated office approved the environmental assessment report. There were numerous outstanding environmental questions at the end of the environmental assessment process. The main dispute in the case was the deferral of controversial water and pollution issues to licensing. The Liard FN alleged that the approval of the environmental assessment was unreasonable and breached the duty to consult and accommodate.

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