Articles

The authors examine ministerial mandate letters issued by Prime Minister Trudeau on November of 2015 and opine on their potential impact on fisheries policy.

The authors discuss the Paris Agreement signed by 196 nations on December 12, 2015, next steps and what's already being done in Canada.

Laura summarizes the Paris Agreement to decarbonize the economy, work collectively to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and limit global temperature increases that was adopted by 195 nations on December 12, 2015 at COP 21.

On November 3, 2015, Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy was adopted by the province in the form of the Great Lakes Protection Act, 2015 (GLPA). In this article, Talia Gordner discusses the key features of the GLPA.

The authors provide an update on litigation regarding Ontario's new regulation of the purchase and sale of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Michael Fortier, Chair of the Ontario Bar Association's Environmental Law Section ("ELS") provides an update on ELS' programs and interactive initiatives for 2015-2016.

On November 27, 2015, the Ontario Court of Appeal released a ground-breaking contaminated sites decision in Midwest v. Thordarson, 2015 ONCA 819. The authors provide three case comments that focus on the Court’s expansion of the scope of recoverable damages in contaminated sites cases, the statutory right of action found in s. 99(2) of the EPA, and personal liability for environmental contamination.

Laura Zizzo, a trained lawyer and strategic advisor focusing on climate risk management at Zizzo Strategy Inc., reports on the Untied Nations Climate Summit.

The authors briefly review the recognition of good faith performance obligations and the recent Bhasin v. Hrynew decision and go on to discuss the applications for this duty in litigation and environmental law contexts.

Sarah provides an overview of three of the many interesting topics covered by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario ("ECO") in her Annual Report for 2014/2015, which was released on November 3, 2015.