The neighbour of a composting facility is sued by its owner when she complains about odours and pests. An elderly couple arguing that a trail across private property is public receive a threatening letter from a lawyer telling them that they will be sued if they don’t stop talking about the trail.
Environmental Law Alert Blog
Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:
- proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
- stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
- emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.
If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.
On January 30th, 2018, the BC government decided to drop the private prosecution launched by Bev Sellars into the Mount Polley disaster. Through her private prosecution, Bev, a grandmother and former chief of the Xat’sull First Nation, gave the provincial government a second chance to show that BC can enforce its own environmental laws.
When it comes to implementing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, lawyers have unique responsibilities; Calls to Action 27, 28, 29 and 50 are particularly instructive. Today, my colleague Maxine Hayman Matilpi and I reflect on what this means for us as legally trained individuals, our public interest law organization and legal pluralism in Canada.
“Politicians grant the permits, but communities grant permission.” – Justin Trudeau
Wild salmon just can’t seem to catch a break right now.
“WE STILL HERE!” belts out JB the First Lady in the Wise Hall. “WE STILL HERE!” echoes the audience.
This week I had the opportunity to listen to the story of how the Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake came together to demand accountability from Mount Polley Mining Corporation in the aftermath of the Mount Polley mine disaster.
This post is Part 2 in a series about NAFTA and its implications on the environment. Read Part 1 here.
Canada’s plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) will necessitate substantial changes to how we make decisions affecting water.
West Coast Environmental Law recently published a report called Paddling Together: Co-Governance Models for Regional Cumulative Effects Management.