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Month: March 2009 Page 1 of 2

The Eviscerating of Federal Environmental Assessment in Canada

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On March 31, 2009

In Environmental

Considered: Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, S.C. 1992, c. 37
Regulations Amending the Exclusion List Regulations, SOR/2009-88
Infrastructure Projects Environmental Assessment Adaptation Regulations, SOR/2009-89
Regulations and Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement

PDF Version: The Eviscerating of Federal Environmental Assessment in Canada

Introduction
A cornerstone of sustainable development is environmental assessment. Through environmental assessment (“EA”) processes regulators identify and assess the environmental, social, and economic consequences of proposed projects to assist them in determining whether they should be approved, and if so, under what conditions. Because of EA, projects are better planned and have reduced environmental impacts and social costs. However, notwithstanding the benefits of EA, recently the federal government has announced its plans to greatly reduce the number of federal EAs in Canada and to limit the application of federal legislation designed to protect our navigable waters and fisheries.

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No one wins when relatives fight over an estate, lawyers behave with incivility, and judges are asked but refuse to recuse themselves

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On March 31, 2009

In Ethics and the Legal Profession, Wills and Estates

Cases Considered: Nazarewycz v. Dool, 2009 ABCA 70.

PDF Version:  No one wins when relatives fight over an estate, lawyers behave with incivility, and judges are asked but refuse to recuse themselves

There is little in this case that shows estate work in a good light. It involves relatives accused of a multitude of sins in their fight over a deceased aunt’s property, lawyers accused of being uncivil, and judges accused of bias. All were vindicated in one way or another by the judgment of the Court of Appeal, but no one won. There was too much strife among relatives; too much manoeuvring for a piece of someone else’s pie. And when counsel and the presiding judge became embroiled in the dispute and appeared to take it personally, the legal system was also diminished.

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Assisted Human Reproduction in Canada: It’s a Gnarly World Out There

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On March 29, 2009

In Constitutional, Health Law

Considered: Assisted Human Reproduction Act, S.C. 2004, c.2.

PDF Version: Assisted human reproduction in Canada: it’s a gnarly world out there

When 60-year-old Ranjit Hayer of Calgary gave birth via caesarean section to twin boys at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital in early February of 2009, the news spread quickly around the world. She became one of a small but growing number of women who, subsequent to having undergone assisted human reproductive treatments, successfully give birth at ages late in the menopausal cycle, or in a handful of even more extreme examples, after menopause has ended. Indeed, in what is probably the most extreme example of a successful post-menopausal pregnancy to date, a 70-year-old woman in India is reported to have given birth in July of 2008 to twins (see here).

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TransCanada’s Alberta Pipeline System now under federal regulatory authority

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On March 23, 2009

In Constitutional, Energy, Natural Resources, Oil & Gas

Cases Considered: National Energy Board, Reasons for Decision, TransCanada PipeLines Limited, GH-5-2008, Jurisdiction and Facilities, February 2008 (posted to the NEB website February 26, 2009)

PDF Version:  TransCanada’s Alberta Pipeline System now under federal regulatory authority

It’s official. The intra-provincial natural gas transmission system (the Alberta System), originally built by Alberta Gas Trunk Line Limited, latterly known as NOVA, and part of the TransCanada PipeLines (TCPL) empire since 1998, will henceforward be regulated by the National Energy Board rather than the provincial regulators, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) (for pipeline construction etc) and the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) (for tolls and tariffs etc).

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Privacy in Schools: Dogs, Lockers, Bodies and Backpacks

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On March 19, 2009

In Constitutional, Criminal, Privacy

Cases Considered: R. v. Kang-Brown, 2008 SCC 18,
R. v. A.M., 2008 SCC 19.

PDF Version: Privacy in Schools: Dogs, Lockers, Bodies and Backpacks

I would like to believe that teenagers are protected from all of the evils of the world when they are at school. At the same time, teenagers are growing into adults and do have rights, such as a reasonable expectation of privacy. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter“) s. 8 provides that:

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

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