Featured Articles

American election will force Canada to take action on climate change

November 05, 2008 15:15

With yesterday’s election of President-Elect Obama, Canada will now be forced to get serious about climate change. Obama has pledged to Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. In order to keep selling into the American market,...

Recent Articles

Making parent companies pay: a sting in the tail of approval reform

March 09, 2010 11:18

This should add some surprising complications to a wide variety of transactions.Ontario’s proposed Framework for approval reform should get strong business support. But an unadvertised detail on page 21, not mentioned in any of the summaries, may give some organizations concern: the Ministry...

Sustainable events – real or greenwashing?

March 08, 2010 11:54

Canadian pride in our “green Olympics” is about to be translated into a standard for sustainable events: Z2010. The Canadian Standards Association worked unofficially with VANOC’s Corporate Sustainability Office to develop the standard in record time, and to learn from its...

Environmental Assessment: Worth the cost?

March 05, 2010 12:44

The main finding of this study is that the lengthy time frames and higher costs to comply with the Municipal Class EA process are not providing additional environmental or other benefits.Federal Conservatives have often signalled their reservations about environmental assessment and approvals, and...

Renewable energy guidance

March 04, 2010 11:29

Need a renewable energy approval under the Environmental Protection Act for a wind, solar or biomass project? Six new draft technical guidance documents have been released for three months’ public comment,  to May 30, 2010. See EBR Registry Number 010-9235. Applicants should follow the...

Approvals Reform gets closer

March 03, 2010 11:47

For most businesses that need new or amended approvals, these changes probably cannot come quickly enough. But the transition period could be painful.Environmental approvals in Ontario are still too slow, too opaque, and too hostile to innovative technologies.  In 2007, the Environmental...

Expert witnesses: preparation

March 02, 2010 13:09

How do lawyers use Expert Witnesses in Environmental Litigation? Here’s an outline from one of Dianne’s seminars: A.   Picking Your Expert 1.     What kind of expert do you need? 2.     Which expert should you choose? 3.     Which expert correspondence is privileged? 4.     Is it...

Financial assurance: what counts?

March 01, 2010 12:47

Detox appealed the Ministry demand for $100,000 in financial assurance for transportation accidents relating to PCBs. As Detox pointed out, it holds $5 million of vehicle insurance, to cover precisely the same sort of accidents, and the MOE's amount, $100,000, was almost certainly inadequate.A...

Water Quality Trading

February 25, 2010 12:53

Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment has released an enthusiastic study on Water Quality Trading to control phosphorous loading in the Lake Simcoe watershed. Lake Simcoe needs a major reduction in phosphorus loadings, even as population and climate change increase. The Lake Simcoe Protection...

Worried yet about 2013?

February 24, 2010 12:44

Anyone who is elected to municipal council this fall, October 25, 2010, will still be in office on January 1, 2013, when section 19 of the Safe Drinking Water Act comes into effect. This is the unprecedented duty of care that purports to require municipal councillors, among others, to “act...