More rulings for cyclists against municipalities
Two Quebec cases have held municipalities liable, where cyclists were injured when they lost control of their bicycles after riding over unexpected defects in the road. In Wilson Davies c. Montreal (Ville de), the cyclist was severely injured when she was thrown from her bicycle and became a…
Continue reading the post titled More rulings for cyclists against municipalitiesProfessional ethics in a changing climate?
West Coast Environmental Law’s new report, Professionals and Climate Change: How professional associations can get serious about global warming, challenges the self-regulating professions to clearly define their members’ ethical obligation that the members of professional organizations owe t…
Continue reading the post titled Professional ethics in a changing climate?Smith v Inco appeal application
Kirk Baert has kindly permitted us to post his Application to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Smith v. Inco. This was the first environmental contamination class action in Canada tried on its merits. The Appeal Court’s dec…
Continue reading the post titled Smith v Inco appeal applicationDrinking water and "contamination"
Eric Hood of Golder Associates Ltd. notes that municipal drinking water often doesn’t meet Ontario’s contaminated site cleanup standards, with potentially serious consequences for cleanups:
Continue reading the post titled Drinking water and "contamination"Did anything happen at Durban?
I am profoundly depressed by the thicket of verbiage coming out of Durban about climate change. So countries promise to agree to promise to do what they promise (if everyone else does too). Great. The Kyoto Protocol was supposed to be legally binding too, but there have been no meaningful co…
Continue reading the post titled Did anything happen at Durban?Pollution, hot spots and environmental justice
Is it acceptable for legal pollution levels to be higher in some neighbourhoods than in others? In the US, pollution is often concentrated in areas of colour, including the famous Cancer Alley. Changing this is called “environmental justice”, and is an important priority for US EPA Administ…
Continue reading the post titled Pollution, hot spots and environmental justiceAODA Compliance – Will you be ready for January 1?
Several months ago, I blogged briefly about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (“AODA”), which became law in 2005. As part of that law, every private-sector and not-for-profit organization that provides goods or services to the public or to third parties and that has at l…
Continue reading the post titled AODA Compliance – Will you be ready for January 1?Intro to environmental law for construction
Interested in an overview of environmental law for those involved in construction? Dianne recently gave one to the Ontario Bar Association Construction Law section. To see it, click OBA Construction Intro.
Continue reading the post titled Intro to environmental law for constructionUS Fracking lawsuits
Fracking lawsuits are spreading across the US. The first cases were launched in Pennsylvania in 2009, claiming damages for contamination of the aquifers on which the plaintiffs depend. Since then, other cases have been launched by dozens of property owners in Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas, C…
Continue reading the post titled US Fracking lawsuitsRoundup pesticides to have special review
West Coast Environmental and Josette Wier have obtained a court order requiring Health Canada to conduct a special review of one use of common glyphosate-based pesticides (such as Roundup) mixed with an ingredient known as POEA. There is conflicting evidence about the toxicity of the mixture…
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