Acquittals in Two Recent Fisheries Act Prosecutions
We often report on convictions under the Fisheries Act. It is less often that we report on acquittals. In the last several months, two cases related to charges against farmers in PEI under the Fisheries Act were dismissed. The cases turned on whether the farmers, contrary to section 36(3) th…
Continue reading the post titled Acquittals in Two Recent Fisheries Act ProsecutionsCO Exposure can be Lethal
A property maintenance business plead guilty and was fined $75,000 for failing to protect their workers from exposure to carbon monoxide gas while power washing an underground parking garage. Ground Maintenance Cleaning Contractors Inc. (“GMCC”), was hired to power wash the underground garag…
Continue reading the post titled CO Exposure can be LethalHunting Convictions for Shooting Decoys
A conservation officer saw two individuals sitting in their truck strategically located in order to observe the decoys with binoculars. The conservation officers placed the stationary moose decoys along the travelled portion of a maintained and travelled forest resource access corridor. Afte…
Continue reading the post titled Hunting Convictions for Shooting DecoysCourt grants defendant injunction and inspection order to investigate plaintiff’s property
In 2014, Metrus Properties sued Wrigley Canada claiming Wrigley’s neighbouring property had contaminated its property. When Wrigley asked to access the Metrus property to conduct environmental tests, Metrus refused. In April of 2016, the Superior Court of Justice granted an injunction to tem…
Continue reading the post titled Court grants defendant injunction and inspection order to investigate plaintiff’s propertyAnother Hefty Fisheries Act Fine
Another significant penalty has been ordered in relation to an offence under the Fisheries Act. Earlier this month, a Nova Scotia pulp and paper company was ordered by a provincial court to pay $225,000 in relation to a pipeline break that released 47 million litres of untreated effluent int…
Continue reading the post titled Another Hefty Fisheries Act FineAnother Conviction under the Migratory Birds Convention Act
The Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA) is again being used as a tool to protect migratory birds that are also species at risk. In early April, Bergedac Ltée, and a shareholder and employee of the company, were convicted and fined a total of $12,000 for violating Migratory Birds Conv…
Continue reading the post titled Another Conviction under the Migratory Birds Convention ActEnvironmental Assessment in the Courts
A duo of recent decisions underscore yet again the need for an overhaul of the existing environmental assessment (“EA”) regime. Environmental groups Greenpeace Canada, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Northwatch, and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (the “Applicants”) filed two judicial r…
Continue reading the post titled Environmental Assessment in the CourtsEndangered Species Litigation in Court of Appeal
Earlier this week, two environmental groups, Wildlands League and Ontario Nature (the “Appellants”), were in the Court of Appeal for Ontario seeking to have struck down a 2013 regulation that significantly altered the regime for protecting species at risk in Ontario. When initially introduce…
Continue reading the post titled Endangered Species Litigation in Court of AppealDry Cleaner Sentenced to House Arrest for Improper Storage of Tetrachloroethylene
An Edmonton businessman and owner of a dry cleaning operation, First Class Cleaners, was given an four-month conditional sentence on that is to be served in the community. The owner of First Class Cleaners plead guilty to five Canadian Environmental Protection Act offences relating to the us…
Continue reading the post titled Dry Cleaner Sentenced to House Arrest for Improper Storage of TetrachloroethylenePriestly Demolition fined $70,000 for Spill and Failure to Report
The defendant, Priestly Demolition Inc. caused chlorine gas to be discharged into the environment when an employee operating a magnetic grapple attempted to move old pressurized gas cylinders. During the move, a valve snapped releasing the gas. The employee experienced a burning sensation an…
Continue reading the post titled Priestly Demolition fined $70,000 for Spill and Failure to Report