Environmental Law
Appeal Watch: Fate of Federal Greenhouse Gas Legislation is Up in the Air
How urgent is the need for coordinated national action on climate change? According to the Court of Appeal for Ontario (“ONCA”), it is urgent indeed. On June 28 2019, the ONCA found, by a 4-1 majority, that the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (“GGPPA”or “the Act”) is a valid exercise of Parliament’s jurisdiction over […]
Appeal Watch: BC’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Dispute is On Its Way to the SCC
At what point does a provincial environmental law which affects interprovincial pipelines stop being environmental legislation and start being an impermissible regulation of a federal undertaking? The British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) was tasked with answering this question in the Reference re Environmental Management Act (British Columbia), 2019 BCCA 181 (EMA Reference), which pitted […]
Orphan Well Association v Grant Thornton Ltd: Constitutional Doctrines Applied to Cleaning Up Old Oil Wells
Introduction On January 31, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or "the Court") reached a decision on bankruptcy and insolvency law and the obligations owed by oil and gas companies that have filed for bankruptcy.
Contractual Interpretation and Indemnity for Environmental Damage in Grassy Narrows
On 28 March 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will hear Resolute FP Canada Inc, et al v Ontario (Attorney General), 37985, an appeal of a lengthy 270-paragraph decision from the Court of Appeal of Ontario (“ONCA”) of Weyerhaeuser Company Limited v Ontario (Attorney General), 2017 ONCA 1007 [Weyerhaeuser]. At first glance, Weyerhaeuser appears […]
Goliath Strikes Back: The Yaiguaje v Chevron Saga Continues
After the underdog Ecuadorians’ victory in Chevron Corp v Yaiguaje, 2015 SCC 42, which established that judgements against foreign corporations can be enforced against Canadian subsidiaries, the Goliath Chevron Corporation has struck back with a potentially debilitating blow to the Ecuadorians seeking enforcement of their $9.5 billion award with a motion for security costs. A […]
Chevron v Yaiguaje: Small Step for the Plaintiffs, (Relatively) Small Step for Mankind
It is tempting to believe, or at least hope, that the recent Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decision in Chevron Corp v Yaiguaje, 2015 SCC 42 [Chevron] is one of the last acts of the Chevron saga, and a leap forward for environmentalism. Alas, the decision is more like the prologue to yet another season […]
Forest Ethics Advocacy Assn v Canada: Three Administrative Decisions on the Line 9 Pipeline
On 31 October 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) released Forest Ethics Advocacy Assn v Canada (National Energy Board), 2014 FCA 245 [Forest Ethics]. In the decision, Justice Stratas considered an “inseparable triumvirate” of interlocutory decisions by the National Energy Board (“NEB”) related to a proceeding on the approval of the Lin 9B Reversal […]
Constitutionalizing Environmental Protections Under the Charter : Part 4
This is the final post in a multi-part series that explores constitutionalizing environmental protections through s. 7 of the Charter in the context of heavy oil processing in Peace River, Alberta. The author is solely responsible for the opinions expressed, and any errors or omissions made. For a PDF version of this post with full […]