Environmental Environmental

Ontario government proposes significant overhaul to municipal planning approval and appeal process with Bill 139

The Ontario government tabled Bill 139, the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 for 1st Reading in the provincial...

Climate Change – Why boards need to be proactive

We highlight below a few of the reasons why climate change needs to be a recurring topic on the board agenda.

Expert report on environmental assessment gives rise to more uncertainty

On April 5, 2017, the Expert Panel for the Review of Environmental Assessment Processes in Canada released its Final Report entitled Building Common...

Ontario Courts continue to clarify the scope and power of section 99 of the Environmental Protection Act

In Huang v Fraser Hillary’s Limited, 2017 ONSC 1500, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice confirmed that plaintiffs can rely on section 99 of the...

Known unknowns: Ontario Court of Appeal provides guidance on discoverability in potentially contaminated lands cases

The Ontario Court of Appeal released an important decision regarding environmental due diligence in a real estate transaction that provides guidance...

Decision to approve Pacific Northwest LNG facility a boost to industry

The Liberal government’s decision to approve the Pacific Northwest LNG Project demonstrates that the federal government is prepared to make...

Alberta’s energy regulator imposes further restrictions on embattled energy industry in response to Redwater

One month after the May 19, 2016 Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench’s decision in Redwater Energy Corporation (Re), 2016 ABQB 278 (“Redwater”),...

Environmental Review Tribunal exercises discretionary remedial power in Ostrander wind farm case

It is the first case to provide insight into how the Tribunal will exercise its discretionary remedial powers where a REA is found to meet the...

Alberta’s carbon tax – Bill 20: the Climate Leadership Implementation Act

On May 24, 2016, Alberta’s Environment Minister Shannon Phillips introduced Bill 20: the Climate Leadership Implementation Act. The Act’s purpose...

Implications of the Redwater decision – Where does the buck stop?

The Court held that the provisions of the BIA permitting a Trustee to renounce assets it deemed uneconomic was paramount to any obligations of the...