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Published on: 15 Oct 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Imposing liability on the innocent bad news for economy

Current Ministry of the Environment efforts to impose environmental cleanup liability on the innocent are bad news for the Ontario economy, according to an Expert Report by noted economist Sherry Cooper. They are also harmful to the social contract and the rule of law, according to Dianne…

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Published on: 10 Oct 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Ivory Smuggler Guilty – Narwhal Tusk Trafficking: $385,000 Penalty

The federal government is continuing its strategy of infrequent environmental prosecutions with large penalties. Last week, Gregory (Greg) Logan, of Woodmans Point, New Brunswick, was convicted of seven offences for the illegal export of  250 Narwhal ivory tusks to the United States over sev…

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Published on: 8 Oct 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Reminder: Filing Toxic Substance Reduction Plan Summaries

The Ministry of the Environment has reminded Ontario businesses that toxic substance reduction plan summaries under the Toxics Reduction Act, 2009 and its regulation (O. Reg. 455/09) must be filed through Environment Canada’s Single Window (formerly known as the One Window to National Enviro…

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Published on: 8 Oct 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Higher minimum federal fines start to bite: $60,000 for dry cleaner

Ashford Cleaners Inc., a Toronto dry cleaner operating in Toronto, Ontario, is one of the first to pay the new, higher fines for offences under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA, 1999), as it was amended last year. Ashfor Cleaners agreed to pay $60,000 to the Environmenta…

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Published on: 3 Oct 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Perverse Abitibi test produces perverse results in Nortel, Northstar appeals

The Ontario Court of Appeal has released its decisions in the Ministry of the Environment’s appeals from Justice Geoffrey Morawetz in Re Nortel and Re Northstar. In both cases, Justice Morawetz rejected MOE attempts to claim priority over secured creditors by ordering insolvent compani…

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Published on: 30 Sep 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

What will it take for facts to overcome fear about wind turbines?

People who actually live with and host wind turbines on their properties are rarely heard in the emotional debate on wind farms and health. Australian filmmaker and researcher Neil Barrett is giving this critical group a voice in his excellent short film, The way the wind blows. Evidence aro…

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Published on: 26 Sep 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Approvals Reform to tackle Brownfields/ Surplus soil issues

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has announced another round of consultations on Modernization of Approvals. This time, they say, they will tackle the high stakes problems of surplus soil movements and contaminated sites. See presentation, Brownfields Modernization.

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Published on: 25 Sep 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Ministry of Transport pays $250,000 for Fisheries Act charges

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation has plead guilty to two charges under the old federal Fisheries Act, and has agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty. The charges were laid by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and  relate to sediment released from a Highway 11 construction project near B…

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