Manitoba clamping down on pollution

¶ Published Monday, December 14th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

Another sign that governments in Canada are beginning to tighten enforcement against environmental violations: The Manitoba government proclaimed this month several amendments to the province’s Environment Act. The changes bolster the inspection powers of environment officers and contain new reporting requirements for the release of pollutants.
Environment officers are now able to inspect wastewater systems in [...]

Global climate challenge

¶ Published Monday, September 28th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

In my latest article for National magazine, I assess some of the challenges facing lawyers and businesses in addressing the growing patchwork of climate change legislation.

The business of climate change law

¶ Published Tuesday, July 21st at %I:%M %p ∞ In Environment1 Comment »

Julius Melnitzer explains why new green laws, more than ever before, are narrowing the gap between business and environmental law.
And indeed over the last couple of years, law firms have worked hard to show their expertise in this field. I have spoken to more than a few lawyers now that tell me that climate [...]

Enforcing the law

¶ Published Friday, March 6th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

One thing about the Conservative government in Ottawa: they’re comfortable with the notion of law enforcement.
You might have heard that under a new federal Environmental Enforcement Act introduced this week, corporate polluters would risk multi-million dollar fines — as high as $6 million. Even smaller companies would be exposed, albeit to lesser fines ($25,000 [...]

NAFTA and pesticides

¶ Published Wednesday, March 4th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

There’s an interesting debate forming around NAFTA and environmental protection laws.
Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of U.S. chemical giant Dow Chemical is suing Canada for more than CAD $2 million in damages under NAFTA. Why? In a move well received by environmental groups, Quebec has prohibited the sale of 2,4-D, a widely used herbicide, in [...]

Ontario’s Green Energy Act

¶ Published Thursday, February 26th at %I:%M %p ∞ In EnvironmentNo Comments »

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about how one should never let a good crisis go to waste. Moving right along, Ontario appears to be following that advice seriously.
On Monday the Ontario government released its proposed Green Energy Act, a sweeping bill that would amend 15 existing provincial statutes. The new Act is incentive-based [...]

Where do people get their legislation from?

¶ Published Monday, September 22nd at %I:%M %p ∞ In Legal IssuesNo Comments »

An interesting survey done by our friends at Canlii shows that they are the most consulted legislative source in Canada. Next up after free sources is commercial ones. Though the survey was geared towards lawyers, it shows that libraries are less and less consulted as people move online.

Industry Associations & Environmental Concerns

¶ Published Wednesday, August 20th at %I:%M %p ∞ In Announcements, Environment, MiscellaneousNo Comments »

We are actively looking to partner with industry associations. In our experience, companies in similar industries (and who are often part of an association) share the same environmental concerns and are impacted by the same regulations – so why not share the burden? 
The system can be modified to suit association needs, companies can leave comments [...]