Despite having one the largest coastal and marine areas in North America, many people will be surprised to hear that British Columbia is one of the very few coastal jurisdictions on the continent that does not have a coastal protection strategy and law.
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.
We are facing a climate emergency and a biodiversity crisis. Canadians are already experiencing floods, fires, ecological disruption and as our planet continues to warm, our collective well-being is deeply under threat.
Marilyn Burgoon was a devoted environmental activist who consistently stepped up to protect the Slocan Valley watershed. West Coast was deeply saddened to learn of her passing in December 2019.
When concerned individuals, community groups and First Nations are seeking justice on behalf of the environment, they need someone to turn to.
This week a special subgroup of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) spoke out about the state of the world’s oceans and coasts. The facts are worrying – sea levels are rising, marine species hover on the brink of extinction, and ocean water quality is deteriorating.
H̓aíkḷa: To make things right – An opportunity for change
As summer draws to a close, West Coast is saying goodbye to another cohort of dedicated summer law students who have contributed to our legal programs over the past few months. Each year we host a new group of lawyers-to-be, who assist greatly with legal research, developing educational resources, legal aid support and more.
This is a guest post by Kathleen Ruff, Director of RightOnCanada.ca. With support from our Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund (EDRF), Kathleen sought a legal opinion to determine whether Canada’s refusal to bring back Canadian wastes exported to the Philippines violated international law.
Efforts to protect BC’s northern coast go back half a century and are not to be taken lightly as the Senate considers killing Bill C-48.