Business Law

Does the covenant to leave the property “in a clean and neat condition” at the end of a long term lease require the tenant to clean up all its contamination? Or only the contamination that has occurred since the last renewal of the lease? And does the tenant have to pay rent unti…

This summer’s flurry of concern about lead in Ontario drinking water gets extra power from a growing body of research linking preschool blood lead and subsequent crime rates. Rick Nevin, for example, has tracked blood lead levels and violent crime over several decades in the USA, Brita…

The new Ontario Minister of Environment is John Gerretsen, MPP Kingston and The Islands. This is an encouraging appointment for anyone interested in brownfields development, as Mr. Gerretsen has been Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the last several years. During this time, the …

In the federal Throne speech, Canada again claims to be leading the world on climate change, when in fact we are an international embarrassment. My recent trip to London, England, drove home again how far we are behind. Climate change is a matter of frequent public and private discourse in t…

Air pollution is wide-spread across Ontario, coming from many sources and moving with large air masses from one region to the next. It’s resulting in health effects, including cancer and respiratory illnesses like asthma.   Last year, more than 5000 premature deaths were attributed to poor a…

Many older homes that were once heated with oil, or still are, had big tanks by the side of the house, buried underground or in the basement. These tanks held enough oil to keep families warm throughout the winter. But whether an old tank is still there, or was removed long ago, escaped home…

Noise pollution has been around for a long time. There’s even a reference going back to the 3rd millennium B.C., in The Epic of Gilgamesh: “The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babble.” Noise, often defined as unwanted sound, is not always det…

We are delighted to congratulate Al Gore on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, for his tireless work to awaken the world to the crisis of climate change. As the scientific drumbeats grow louder and louder, the need for action grows ever more urgent. Thanks to Gore and others like him, perhaps …

Why don’t our municipalities have better environmental infrastructure? One answer is: the Development Charges Act (DCA)! While cycling recently with one Ontario mayor, I asked why his fast-growing municipality did so little to encourage bicycle commuting. He knows that cycling is a great way…

Contaminated sites continue to keep the courts busy. This month, the Ontario Court of Appeal allowed a secured creditor to take $3.75 million out of a bankrupt firm, despite MOE objections that the money was needed to cleanup the bankrupt’s pollution. In Harbert Distressed Investment F…