EnviroNotes!
Recent BC Decision Limits Authority of DFO in Development Near Water
A recent decision of the BC Court of Appeal confirms that the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (“DFO”) does not have authority over, and does not need to approve, development near water which does not have a harmful effect...
No Harm, No Nuisance – The Ontario Court of Appeal Lays Out What Will, and Will Not, Fly in Proving Nuisance: Smith v. Inco Limited
Introduction On October 7, 2011 the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Smith v. Inco Limited, 2011 ONCA 628. The case was brought as a class proceeding by a number of residents of Port Colborne, Ontario who sought...
Contaminated Sites: EAB Directs Ministry of Environment to Issue Certificate of Compliance
In a recent decision, the BC Environmental Appeal Board (“EAB”) directed the Ministry of Environment to issue a Certificate of Compliance (“COC”) for a property that had been remediated and where the Ministry of Environment had refused to issue a...
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Québec is About to Enforce its Own Cap-and-Trade System
For several years now, the participants of the Western Climate Initiative, including Québec, have been collaborating in order to promote, and eventually implement policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions in their respective territories. The most notable project they...
In the World of Wind – Setback Shmetback – No Harm, No Foul
Hanna v. Ontario (Attorney General) was at the centre of some controversy amongst those in the Ontario environmental and renewable energy bar. What seemed to start out as an attempt by a local resident to potentially quell wind power development...
