Recent Articles

OSC releases Staff Notice calling for improved environmental disclosure

April 02, 2008 21:46

Reporting issuers must improve their disclosure of known and contingent environmental liabilities in continuous disclosure documents. That is the message of the Ontario Securities Commission's Staff Notice 51-716 on Environmental Reporting (the 'Staff Notice'), released February 27, 2008. The...

Key Kearl oil sands permit dries up in wake of Federal Court decision

April 01, 2008 16:51

Posted by Andrew Lord The federal government reportedly revoked Imperial Oil's permit to take water for the planned Kearl oil sands project. Imperial Oil's legal challenge of that decision is expected to be heard in May. Imperial predicts that the battle to recover the permit to take water...

Consultations Begin-- 2008 Amendments to the Building Code

February 19, 2008 14:54

Submitted by Alexis Alyea Starting February 15, 2008, the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing will begin the public consultation process with respect to proposed amendments to the Building Code. These amendments contemplate requiring fire sprinklers in multiple-unit residential...

Proposed Ban on the Cosmetic Use of Pesticides

February 18, 2008 22:14

Submitted by Alexis Alyea On January 18, 2008 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment posted a 'Notice of intent to introduce legislation that would ban the cosmetic use of pesticides in Ontario' on the Environmental Registry. The MOE is inviting comment on the Notice until February 18th, 2008. ...

Province releases proposed final built boundary for Places to Grow

November 20, 2007 23:08

On November 20, MPIR released the mapping for the "proposed" final built boundary as referred to in Places to Grow. Once the boundary is final, municipalities will be required to include it in their official plan conformity exercises to implement Places to Grow. It is the line within which the...

Top Blog Award from LexisNexis

November 20, 2007 03:52

We are pleased to announce that our blog has been selected to be featured in the 'Top Blogs' section of the recently released LexisNexis Environmental law and Climate Change Center. The selection of the was made by the Environmental Team responsible for the Matthew Bender Environmental...

Class Action certification for property damage due to TCE contamination upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal

October 17, 2007 05:00

Last month the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the certification of a class action against the Canadian Pacific Railway Limited relating to TCE contamination. The action alleged that the putative class members had suffered a diminution in property values and the loss of rental income as a result of...

Interesting Court of Appeal decision regarding damages arising from the purchase of contaminated property

October 16, 2007 22:21

The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently rendered an interesting decision dealing with damages in the event of the purchase of contaminated property, Lionhead Investments Inc. and Petro-Canada. See the Ontario Court of Appeal decision from late August of this and the trial decision from 2006 for...

Final Report of the Agency Cluster Facilitator Released

September 25, 2007 18:51

The Final Report of the Agency Cluster Facilitator has been released and Kevin Whitaker named as the Agency Cluster Facilitator. Mr. Whitaker will work with five tribunals in the municipal, environmental and land use planning sectors to improve services through cross-agency coordination and...

Supreme Court of Canada dismisses Windsor's Application for Leave to Appeal regarding Validity of Licensing By-law for Adult Entertainers

August 23, 2007 17:04

The City of Windsor enacted a by-law which created the licensing scheme for adult entertainers in the City. The by-law required that those who fell within the definition of "dancer" must be licensed and pay the required license fee. Dancer was broadly defined as all people working in adult...