Environmental Law & Policy

Alberta’s caribou left out in the cold, again

EDMONTON — The highly-anticipated Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP), rolled out this morning to much fanfare, is another glaring example of Alberta’s unwillingness to enact swift, meaningful protection of the province’s dwindling caribou population, Ecojustice said today.

Virtually none of the new protected areas designated in the LARP include habitat areas critical to caribou survival and recovery. Read More

Environmental Assessment Changes: Will They Affect You? (Webinar)

Apr 19 2011 - 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Are you confused about how recent changes in Environmental Assessment law will affect your practice? Can we expect federal Environmental Assessments to be conducted differently now?

Join Laura Bowman, Staff Counsel at the Environmental Law Centre of Alberta on April 19th to find out what changes have been made in the last year and how they will impact the federal environmental assessment process.

Click here to RSVP. Read More

Pembina reacts to new Alberta oilsands mine reclamation security policy

Nathan Lemphers, policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, responded to the Government of Alberta announcement of a new oilsands mine reclamation security policy.

On the new Mine Financial Security Program:

"Although this reclamation security policy has some improvements in transparency over the previous version, one of the fundamental principles of this policy is flawed — that the assets of the mine, which created these liabilities in the first place, can be used to pay for the cleanup.

 

Read More

ALSA Does Not Extinguish Property Rights

 

An important clarification about the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA) and property rights by University of Calgary law professor Nigel Bankes has confirmed that ALSA does not extinguish property rights. Professor Bankes points out that it is unreasonable to interpret ALSA as providing an alternative means of property expropriation, and that the courts would not uphold such an interpretation. (His February 11 posting is at http://ablawg.ca/) Read More

The Duck Stops Here! Do tailings ponds trump migratory bird protection? (Webinar)

Feb 28 2011 - 7:00pm to 8:00pm

The Syncrude ducks trial last year was among the most sensational environmental trials of the last decade, resulting in the most significant environmental fine in Canada.

This webinar will focus on what the trial means in the context of migratory bird protection and what it says about the legality of tailings ponds under theMigratory Birds Protection Act. What issues did the Syncrude trial resolve and what issues remain unanswered in the wake of the decision? Read More

Minister’s decision to withdraw Bill 29: an encouraging step for Alberta’s Parks & Protected Areas

(Calgary, AB) The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is applauding Cindy Ady, Minister of Parks Recreation and Tourism, for withdrawing the new Provincial Parks Act (Bill 29) from the spring session of legislature. Since November, thousands of Albertans and Canadians have written the Minister stating strong concerns with the Bill and its potential impact on Alberta’s most precious protected areas. Read More

Pages

Subscribe to Environmental Law & Policy