Posts Tagged ‘Environmental law’

When in doubt, report: Castonguay Blasting upheld at SCC

October 21st, 2013 by Laura Bowman

Last week the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Castonguay Blasting case, which I have previously written about.  Despite numerous critics of the Court of Appeal’s decision from the environmental law bar, the Supreme Court made the right decision and upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling that all discharges of contaminants are reportable under the Ontario Environmental Protection Act.

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Federal government posts proposed revisions to regulations under CEAA 2012

April 17th, 2013 by Laura Bowman

Late Friday night, April 12, 2013, the federal government posted the latest revisions to the Regulations Designating Physical Activities under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.   These regulations determine which projects are potentially subject to a federal assessment under the new Act.

The existing regulations were put in force without any public consultations when CEAA 2012 was enacted in July 2012.  The regulations were based on the comprehensive study list regulations under the old version of CEAA which was repealed in mid-2012.

The amendments to the Regulations Designating Physical Activities proposed by the government at this time are limited.  Some projects are removed and others are clarified.   Diamond mines, apatite mines, railway yards, international and interprovincial bridges and tunnels and “the first offshore exploratory wells in exploration licence area” and expansions to oil sands mines would be added to the project list.  Just being on the project list no longer guarantees an assessment is required.

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Paula Boutis helps Osgoode Law School team make it to the final competition round

April 16th, 2013 by Iler Campbell

Paula Boutis, along with Michael McClurg of Olthius Kleer Townshend, coached one of two excellent Osgoode teams for the Willms & Shier Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, held at the Ontario Court of Appeal on March 9, 2013.

The team placed second overall, and team members Jesse Cohen ’14 and Luke Johnston ’14 both won distinguished oralist awards. Johnston also won the award for top oralist in the final round.

Congratulations to all the participants!

For more details on the event see here.

Go Dal! We’re sponsoring WCEL’s Twitter Moot

November 15th, 2012 by Iler Campbell LLP

Iler Campbell LLP is pleased to be a Silver Sponsor to the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, in the second annual “Twitter Moot”, hosted by the West Coast Environmental Law Association (WCEL), on November 20, 2012, at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST).  This is Iler Campbell’s second year sponsoring the Dalhousie team, the alma matter of Iler Campbell lawyer Paula Boutis, where Paula obtained her law degree, with a specialization in environmental law.

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How will CEAA review panels interpret “directly affected” and “interested party”? Alberta provides some clues

November 12th, 2012 by Laura Bowman

The new federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012) has adopted new criteria for standing at review panel hearings that includes the words “directly affected”.  The Kelly series of cases from Alberta help shed some light on the meaning of that requirement and how it might develop at the federal level.  Under CEAA 2012 review panels will decide what it means, but will be subject to supervision by the courts.

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“Species at Risk” Legislation In Ontario and Canada

November 8th, 2012 by Iler Campbell LLP

Paula Boutis and our articling student, Jessica Weizenbluth, recently authored a paper on species at risk legislation which Paula presented as part of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Six Minute Environmental Lawyer 2012. The paper and presentation provide an overview of the laws on the books, how they have been applied, case law, and where the legislation is going from here. Download the paper and presentation here.