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.

2020 Canadian Law Blog Awards Winner

Water, water everywhere. At this wet time of year, it may not seem that protecting the amount of water flowing in streams and rivers throughout the province is a top priority.

On October 19, 2015 Canada elected our 23rd Prime Minster, Justin Trudeau on a platform of change and open and honest government. The “open letter” storm that followed that election and the subsequent transition in government may inadvertently save Canada Post’s dwindling letter mail business.

Since the recent federal election there has been much discussion (and as my colleague Eugene Kung notes, an abundance of open letters) about the Liberal party’s election promise to “review Canada’s environmental

WCEL welcomes today's public release of mandate letters from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for newly appointed federal Cabinet Ministers.

The Liberal Party’s main campaign promises on environmental legal protection

The sixth and final day of the Enbridge hearing was as charged and exciting as the first. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) was up first to make submissions on whether or not the Enbridge pipeline is in the ‘public interest’.

Day 5 of 6. A core group of concerned community members persisted in the courtroom and listened intently to the dynamic exchanges between the judges and counsel for the Respondents. The judges started the day by addressing Northern Gateway’s last minute attempt to introduce fresh evidence.

First up this morning, Chris Tollefson presented arguments on behalf of BC Nature, a B.C.-based conservation group.

Spirits remained high in the 8th floor courtroom even as a dense fog settled on downtown Vancouver. The courtroom was jam-packed all day long while lawyers representing the Nak’azdli, Nadleh Whut’en, Gitga’at and Gitxaała Nations made their cases.

Representatives from the Haisla, Haida, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Heiltsuk, Nadleh Whut’en, Nak’azdli, Gitga’at and Gitxaala Nations travelled hundreds of kilometers to attend proceedings in front of the Federal Court of Appeal from October 1st – October 8th.