Former Counsel Escapes Damages Award When New Counsel Fails to Start Claim on Time 03 octobre 2016 Paula Boutis Paula summarizes the recent Superior Court decision in Dobara Properties Limited et al. v. Arnone et al., 2016 ONSC 3599 in which self-represented plaintiffs were able to recover remediation costs from their former litigation counsel who missed a limitation period to recover same from the plaintiffs' former real estate counsel.
Federal Administrative Monetary Penalty Scheme for Environmental Offences Released for Comment 11 mai 2016 Paula Boutis Paula summarizes the federal government's recently released draft regulations for the Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Act.
Case Law Update: GFO v Ontario (Environment and Climate Change), 2016 ONCA 283 11 mai 2016 Julia Schatz The authors comment on the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision, released on April 20, 2016, upholding Ontario's regulation of the purchase and sale of neonicotinoid pesticides (Ontario Regulation 139/15).
No Fault Orders and the Potential Liability of Realtors 28 avril 2016 John Tidball Realtors beware of potential MOECC clean-up orders. John discusses the situation that lead to the Environmental Review Tribunal's April 14, 2016 decision in McQuiston v. Ontario (MOECC) (ERT Case Nos. 15-09 through 15-024).
Keeping with the Environmental Law Times: Lessons to be learned from Manitoba's Bill 20 - the Environmental Rights Act 14 avril 2016 Kaitlyn Mitchell and John Swaigen The authors argue for a review and potential update to Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993.
Statutory "Polluter Pay" Liability in British Columbia – The Perils of Pre-EMA Activity 08 mars 2016 Lynn Mitchell Lynn comments on the 2015 British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in J.I. Properties Inv. v. PPG Coating Canada Ltd., 2015 BCCA 472, that upheld a $4.7 million award of statutory remediation costs against the former owner of a site who had previously remediated the site to the satisfaction of B.C. environmental regulators in the mid-1980s.
Province Releases Excess Soil Management Policy Framework 08 mars 2016 Laura Bowman, a staff lawyer at Ecojustice. Laura comments on the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change's posting of an Excess Soil Management Policy Framework (“proposed framework”) that proposes a path forward and guiding principles for the development of policy related to the management of excess soil. Comments on the proposed framework may be submitted on the Environmental Registry up until March 26, 2016.
Ninety-Nine Problems: Ontario Court of Appeal Releases Significant Decision for Environmental Civil Litigation 07 mars 2016 Jack Coop, Jennifer Fairfax, Patrick G. Welsh and Rebecca Hall-McGuire The authors provide their views on the impact of the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in Midwest Properties Ltd. v. Thordarson, 2015 ONCA 819.
Insurers Off the Hook for Release of Pollutants Caused by Fire 07 mars 2016 John Georgakopoulos, Matthew Gardner and Julia Paillé The authors comment on the Supreme Court of Canada's denial of leave to appeal the British Columbia Court of Appeal's decision in Precision Plating Ltd. v. Axa Pacific Insurance Co., which dealt with the interpretation and application of pollution exclusion clauses in commercial general liability insurance policies.
Fisheries Act Policy and Management, Justin Trudeau Style: An Overview of November 2015 Federal Ministerial Mandate Letters & their Potential Impacts "in the Water" 07 mars 2016 David McRobert and Julian Tennent-Riddell The authors examine ministerial mandate letters issued by Prime Minister Trudeau on November of 2015 and opine on their potential impact on fisheries policy.