Environmental Law Centre

The Environmental Law Centre has been busy today. They've published:

• an update to their comments on Bill C-9 (Jobs and Economic Growth Act);
• Comments on Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings Discussion Paper;
• Laura Bowman blogs on Alberta's declining grizzly populations; and 
• Jason Unger blogs on "the gravity of potential harms arising from human activities on the environment".

The Environmental Law Centre posts on a couple of recent developments. Adam Driedzic posts on Bill C-469: An Act to establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights, which recently passed second reading in the House of Commons.

Laura Bowman comments on proposed wastewater regulations under the Fisheries Act.

There is no assurance from regulators that public health and the environment will be adequately protected while municipalities take 10-30 years to comply.  These timelines are not consistent with those ordered by the courts on the rare occasions when municipalities have been charged and convicted.

• Link: Environmental Rights: Bill C-469 moves forward
• Link: Canadian government decides that your sewage doesn’t stink for up to 30 years from now

Environmental Law Centre Executive Director Cindy Chiasson appeared on CBC Radio's The Current to talk about the significant changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act that are buried in the federal government's omnibus budget bill, Bill C-9.

Listen to the interview on the CBC website. Read More

A reminder that Bill C-469, An Act to establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights, gets it Second reading (first time debated) in the House of Commons today. According to the Environmental Law Centre, the Private Members' Bill, introduced by Edmonton—Strathcona MP Linda Duncan, would:

…provide Canadians with access to environmental information, substantive environmental rights and rights to appeal federal decisions that might harm the environment.

You can watch the "action" on ParlVU. According to the projected order of business, Bill C-469 will be debated around 3:30pm MDT. Read More