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Published on: 22 Jan 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Equivalent wetland dedication is expropriation?

The Quebec Court of Appeal will soon decide an appeal on whether applications to destroy wetlands can be required to dedicate offsetting lands to become protected areas. However, the trial decision has already been overruled by the National Assembly. In Atocas de l’érable inc. c. Québe…

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Published on: 11 Dec 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

Lethal buildings slaughter migratory and threatened birds

It’s a horror story – the beautiful glass-walled building you may work, shop or live in are wastefully killing millions of migratory birds. Many readers are likely familiar with the distressing thud of a bird breaking its neck or wing on those lovely glass panes, often at night when the ligh…

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Published on: 5 Dec 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

When can municipalities regulate environmental impacts?

Eleven years after the landmark Spraytech case, how far have municipalities been able to go in regulating environmental impacts of federally and provincially regulated activities? The people who must live closest to a resource or energy project often turn to their municipalities to protect t…

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Published on: 4 Dec 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

Canada must answer: why aren't we protecting polar bears?

As the polar bears of the Beaufort Sea face record low ice, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has issued a determination, requiring a response from Canada to submission SEM-11-003 (Protection of Polar Bears). A year ago, on 5 December 2011, the US Center f…

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Published on: 27 Nov 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

Town liable for negligence re developer's storm sewer

Property owners often suffered damage when storm and sanitary sewers malfunction. Canadian municipalities are generally exempt from civil suits in nuisance relating to their sewers, due to special statutes adopted across the country. However, they can be successfully sued in negligence. Such…

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