Articles

On December 29, 2014, the Ontario Divisional Court released its decision in Dixon v. Director, Ministry of the Environment.

On January 1, 2015, the federal government’s amendments to the PCB Regulations, SOR/2008-273 under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 entered into force.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: New decision sets framework for a global deal to reduce GHG emissions.

The Ontario government first introduced Bill 167, the Invasive Species Act, 2014 (“ISA”), on February 26, 2014. It passed second reading on April 8, 2014, but died on the order paper due to the June 2014 election. On November 5, 2014, the ISA was reintroduced as Bill 37. Bill 37 was debated at second reading on December 8, 2014. If passed, the ISA will come into force one year after receiving Royal Assent.

The former rule against threatening criminal or quasi-criminal proceedings to gain a benefit for a client has been broadened. Now threatening to make a complaint to a “regulatory authority” is prohibited.

A look at Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller's 2013/2014 Annual Report, Managing New Challenges, released on October 7.

On May 15, 2014, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Thornhill v Highland Fuels. Highland Fuels, the tank installer and fuel oil supplier, was found not negligent in its tank installation and supply of fuel to Thornhill’s aboveground fuel oil storage tank.

Greetings Environmental Law Section Members!

Despite its as-yet undetermined effect on the proposed Northern Gateway project, the Species at Risk Act is a positive development.

The harm to the Blanding’s turtles from the project was permitted under s.17 of the Ontario Endangered Species Act(ESA). The Tribunal found that the test under the Director’s Renewable Energy Approval was separate from that under the ESA.