¶ Published Thursday, October 29th In Environment - 1 Comment »
Businesses continue to be discouraged in the absence of any concrete steps towards unifying Canada’s patchwork of requirements for environmental assessments (EA). Overlapping responsibilities between provincial, territorial and federal levels of government, not to mention competing agencies at all levels, have predictably produced unbearable delays in the regulatory process. Making matters worse at the municipal level, land use planning and EA processes lack proper coordination, which causes long delays. Without a doubt, the dream of a “one project-one assessment” approach to conducting environmental assessments across Canada has still a ways to go. But as this Bennett Jones update argues, thereRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, October 28th In Design & Features - No Comments »
Some of our potential clients do not require detailed guidance text on legislation – they already understand the basics, they simply want updates on environmental legislation. They want to know what is changing, when, how and why. We have always offered updates as part of our various services, but now we are pleased to offer it as a stand-alone service. Priced at a very competitive 120$ per year per province and with all our Federal information free, we hope this new service will keep you on top of legislative changes. Sign up today and the first month is free. HereRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, October 28th In Environment - No Comments »
A friend of ours, Shirley Segev, offers 1 day ISO 14001 crash courses in Toronto. You walk out of the workshop with a binder that helps you improve your environmental management without the cost or heavy paperwork required for a full ISO 14001 certification. Her workshop certifies you as a small business ISO 14001 company. In the small business version of 14001, you are not required to have a legal or aspect-impact register – but it is recommended. As such, we are pleased to work with her and her clients to offer easy and low-cost ways to manage legal andRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, October 21st In Video - No Comments »
About a month ago, Isaac Rudik, from Compliance Solutions Canada, and I spoke about environmental management systems, green plans and other items of interest. Here is the edited video, please let us know what you think.
¶ Published Thursday, October 15th In Environment - No Comments »
Business is about making choices so successful business owners understand how to measure risks when required to decide between two options. Weighing $3,500 against $20,000 is a no brainer. By Isaac Rudik at Compliance Solutions Canada – A Nimonik Affiliate For as long as there have been poorly-done cop shows on television, bad guys have been getting caught because they make a stupid mistake. Whether robbers, killers, con artists or polluters, the typical plot twist leading to their arrest just before the closing credits roll involves them doing something idiotic, careless, forgetful or lackadaisical. Keep Reading here. When the writersRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, October 14th In Environment, Legal Issues - No Comments »
Too often, small or ugly animals receive less attention than their large or furry cousins. This phenomenon leads to the extinction of ugly ducklings and the over protection of baby seals. The EcoJustice lawyers have scored a major victory by proving the government was contravening its own laws by refusing to recognize the habitat of an endangered species, the Nooksack dace minnow. Article here. Larger animals rely on smaller ones for food, so it is important to protect all levels of the food chain, not just the large furry creatures. From the article linked to above: “This string of successful lawsuitsRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, October 12th In Environment - No Comments »
The Ontario government is seeking comments on a draft Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reporting regulation that would phase in requirements and support the implementation of a cap and trade program that can link to other GHG systems. This proposal has been posted for a 30 day public review and comment period starting October 07, 2009 until November 06, 2009. The regulation proposes the following requirements: Reporting for all regulated sources that are emitting 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) or more per year; Reporting of 2010 emissions in the year 2011, and reporting every following year ; Flexibility toRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, October 12th In Environment - No Comments »
Friends of the Earth, a non-profit environmental advocacy group, just release an environmental report card for the various cruise lines. I once took a cruise vacation, and it is not something I would repeat. Cruise ships ram passengers and crew in like sardines, the vast majority of the staff are underpaid workers picked up in third world countries, and trash is offloaded in ports willing to “treat” it at the lowest possible cost. Of all the cruise ships, the northern european ones ranked highest and Mickey Mouse a.k.a. Disney pulled into port last. Travelling by boat changes your perspective. OnRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, October 8th In Environment - No Comments »
Doing something small for the environment, like turning off lights in unused rooms, also results in big savings for organisations. By Isaac Rudik at Compliance Solutions Canada – A Nimonik affiliate A colleague recently replaced all of the incandescent bulbs throughout his small-to-midsized company with compact fluorescent lights, and removed one-quarter of the fluorescent tubes from ceiling fixtures in areas where worker safety and productivity wasn’t affected. Urged to action by his pre-teen children, Jack’s intent was to do something positive – however small – for the environment. But he was delightfully surprised by his next Hydro bill: Not onlyRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, October 6th In Environment - No Comments »
You might recall a recent Federal Court ruling (currently under appeal) that refused to force the government to enforce Canada’s Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act. Interestingly, a U.S. court ( the Second Circuit of Appeals) ruled last month in Connecticut v. American Electric, that victims of climate change can sue coal-fired electric utilities in common law nuisance. Of course Canadian courts are only required to follow Canadian case law. But jurisprudence from other common law jurisdictions (including the U.S. , the U.K. and Australia) does have persuasive value. As this Lawyers Weekly article points out, “the essential arguments and responses areRead the Rest…
