Municipalities play a key role in the management and protection of Alberta’s environment. This occurs through regulation of private land uses and through local land use planning. Municipalities can also direct local changes that reduce the trajectory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and create resilient communities that can adapt to the changes caused by climate […]
Unleashing the Environmental Power of Municipalities: Recommendations to Strengthen Alberta’s Municipal Government Act
March 1, 2016 By Brenda Heelan Powell
Teacher’s Talk LawNow: Host an Earth Summit
April 24, 2013 By Ryan Day
The environment and Canada’s resource driven economy has been a recurring top story in the national news. There is currently an abundance of teachable moments to discuss the environment. The latest issue of LawNow magazine explores environmental causes and the law and is the perfect backgrounder for informed discussions about current events and environmental issues. […]
Viewpoint 37-4: The Economy and The Environment
March 1, 2013 By Senator Grant Mitchell
The economies that will dominate in the future will be those that embrace environmental challenges and see them as opportunities and not cost. For the longest time, the message has been that dealing with environmental issues incurs a cost to the economy that will harm our competitiveness. More and more, however, there is a growing […]
Nickel Shower: An Environmental Class Action
Introduction The recent Smith v. Inco Limited case is the first Canadian environmental class action lawsuit to proceed through a trial and appeal. It shows how the courts mediate between the interests of industry and of private landowners. Inco refined nickel near the small southern Ontario city of Port Colborne on the north shore of Lake […]
The Difference a Year Makes: Changes to Canadian Federal Environmental Assessment Law in 2012
February 28, 2013 By Brenda Heelan Powell
In 2012, the landscape of Canadian federal environmental assessment law was completely altered. Following on the heels of a truncated statutory review process in late 2011, federal environmental assessment law was re-written with the passage of Bill C-38 (the federal omnibus budget bill). This article will provide an overview of the statutory review process and […]
