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

Rob Edward is a sməlqmíx community member & Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) tech specialist. He works with language and language translation for the sməlqmíx, the syilx people of the Similkameen Valley.

Spring is usually a beautiful, vibrant time in the Fraser River Estuary, but this year it also brought the dark cloud of federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s approval of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (T2) expansion project.

At the recent UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), Canada joined other countries in making ambitious commitments to protect nature.

One year on from the November 2021 flood events in BC, it’s clear as we look towards the future there are no easy answers for the Lower Fraser River floodplain and the communities who live there.

This joint op-ed was originally published in the Globe & Mail on April 14, 2022.

Environmental racism is a widespread problem in Canada, affecting many Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities across the country.

The federal government is preparing to introduce its 2022 budget, considering funding decisions that will have major implications on Canada’s ability to address key environmental and social justice priorities in the coming years.

The start of a New Year is a time for reflection as much as it is a time for celebration.

The telling of true stories is necessary to remember our collective history across the globe. Specifically, this has become clear in recent discussions about the abundant life of Semá:th Lake (also known as Sumas Lake) in the Fraser Valley of BC, which once “reached from Chilliwack into Washington State.”

With Election 2021 behind us, the Liberal Party of Canada is now beginning its third term in office with another minority government.