On the morning of June 10, 2014, as my first investigative assignment as a law student volunteer working with West Coast Environmental Law, I was sent to the Federal Court of Appeal on the corner of the busy Georg
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.
Can a private resort company own a lake? If so, are the fish in the lake private or public? And can the resort keep the public from fishing in that lake? These critical questions are central to a David vs.
A guest Environmental Law Alert from Friends of Pioneer Forest
In June 2012 word went around our community that Pioneer Forest which was currently owned by School District #68 and leased for a park by the City of Nanaimo was going to be sold.
Pioneer Forest
I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to have your drinking water, and your entire community, contaminated with jet fuel; particularly when, like the folks impacted by the Lemon Creek jet fuel spill in the Slocan Valley, you live in an otherwise pristine area. The only thing that would make it worse would be feeling shut out of the clea
[Update: 13 February 2014 - We have received word that Staniford's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada has been denied. In addition to meaning that Don is on the hook for $75,000 plus legal costs, it also means that we will not get the benefit of further direction from the Supreme Court on what is mea
“British Columbians should be furious that our government continues to allow wolves to be killed for money, prizes and other illegal lottery schemes when it is clearly against the law to hold a contest of this nature.” – Ian McAlli
Congratulations to Don Staniford – and his lawyer, David Sutherland – who, last month, defeated a lawsuit brought against him by fish farm giant, Mainstream Canada! The fish farm company had sued Don for a series of mock cigarette ads with warnings related to the impacts o
Two legal cases are underway, funded by West Coast Environmental Law, that may answer the question: who benefits from BC’s protected areas? The government? The Queen of Canada? Or the public?
We were alarmed to hear that Taseko Mines Ltd., the company that wants to develop the controversial Prosperity Mine, is suing the Wilderness Committee and one of its employees. This is a disturbing reminder that the law is s
In 2004 the residents of the tiny community of Stillwater, near Powell River, learned that BC Timber Sales (BCTS) was planning to auction off the rights to clearcut 12.5 hectares in the Jefferd Creek watershed, which is the source of their drinking water. Well, it’s been a long fight, but after 8 years and a series of grants to the Committee fo