Author Archives: Martin Olszynski

About Martin Olszynski

B.Sc. in Biology (Saskatchewan), LL.B. (Saskatchewan), LL.M. Specialization in Environmental Law (University of California at Berkeley). Assistant Professor. Please click here for more information.

What the ELA Tells Us About Alberta’s New Monitoring Agency

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: What the ELA Tells Us About Alberta’s New Monitoring Agency

Developments commented on: Government of Canada announces that a new operator for the Experimental Lakes Area has been secured; Appointment of Chair and Vice-Chair of Alberta’s Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency’s Board

This past Tuesday, the Canadian and Ontario governments, together with the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) announced that an agreement had been reached to transfer responsibility for the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to the IISD. Many readers will know that the ELA is the world-renowned research facility located in northern Ontario where since 1968 freshwater ecologists and other scientists have conducted numerous important and unique whole-lake experiments, including one by a then-recent Rhodes Scholar named David Schindler that resulted in the phasing out of phosphorus additives in cleaning products. These same readers will also likely know that DFO’s funding for the ELA, a whopping $2 million per year, was cut as part of the (in)famous 2012 federal budget (which also took an axe to the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy). What readers might not know, however, is what these events tell us about the potential success of Alberta’s new independent monitoring agency, the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA).

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To Be (Justified) or Not To Be: That is (Still) the Question

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: To Be (Justified) or Not To Be: That is (Still) the Question

Document commented on: Decision Statement Issued under Section 54 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, SC 2012, c19, for Taseko’s proposed New Prosperity Mine Project

A couple of weeks ago, the federal Minister of the Environment, Leona Aglukkaq, released another highly anticipated “decision statement” pursuant to section 54 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012), this time regarding Taseko’s New Prosperity Mine project. Most readers will know that this was Taseko’s second attempt to secure federal approval for its proposed mine and that the federal review panel that conducted the second environmental assessment (EA) concluded that, like the original Prosperity project, it too was likely to result in significant adverse environmental effects (SAEEs) (for more on the panel’s report, see my previous post here). As with Shell’s Jackpine Oil Sands Mine expansion project and Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline project, this meant that New Prosperity could only proceed if the Governor in Council (GiC) (which is to say, Cabinet) concluded that these SAEEs were “justified in the circumstances” (section 53). Unlike Jackpine (and probably Northern Gateway), however, the GiC has apparently concluded that New Prosperity’s SAEEs are not justified. I use the term “apparently” here because, as in Jackpine, there is no explanation or rationale contained in the decision statement as to how or why the GiC reached this result.

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And Now Some Good News for a Change: The Energy Safety and Security Act

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: And Now Some Good News for a Change: The Energy Safety and Security Act

Legislation Commented on: Bill C-22, An Act respecting Canada’s offshore oil and gas operations, enacting the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act, repealing the Nuclear Liability Act and making consequential amendments to other Acts (Energy Safety and Security Act), Second Session, Forty-first Parliament, 62 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014

At the end of last month, while all eyes were fixed on the U.S. State Department’s release of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline (discussed by my colleague Professor James Coleman here), the federal government quietly introduced Bill C-22, the Energy Safety and Security Act (ESSA), for first reading in the House of Commons. Bill C-22 has two parts, the first dealing with offshore oil and gas operations, the second with the liability regime applicable to nuclear incidents. This post focuses on the changes to the offshore liability regime and then briefly considers what ESSA tells us about the development of effective environmental laws and policies in Canada. Continue reading →

The Not Quite Twelve Days of Northern Gateway

By Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: The Not Quite Twelve Days of Northern Gateway

Decision Commented On: Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project

When the Joint Review Panel’s report for the Northern Gateway Project (the NGP Report) was first released, I knew that exam marking and other commitments would prevent me from posting a timely comment (in contrast, see here and here). I had hoped to make up for my tardiness by eventually writing a post using a holiday theme, as the Environmental Law Centre’s Jason Unger did so well with respect to other environmental law developments here. My own idea was to write something along the lines of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ Alas, it is mid-January and it seems that the time for such ornamentation has passed; a plain and simple discussion of some of the more interesting aspects of the NGP Report will have to do. Continue reading →

Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion Project: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Justification

PDF Version: Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion Project: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Justification

Document commented on: Decision Statement Issued under Section 54 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 re: Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion Project (2013 ABAER 011/Decision 2013-011)

Last Friday (December 6, 2013), the federal Minister of the Environment, Leona Aglukkaq, released the long-awaited decision statement for Shell’s Jackpine Mine Expansion project. As I wrote here, the joint review panel concluded – for the first time in the oil sands context – that the project was likely to result in numerous significant adverse environmental effects. This conclusion triggered the application of subsection 52(2) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, SC 2012, c 19 (CEAA, 2012), pursuant to which the Governor in Council (GiC) must determine whether the project is nevertheless “justified in the circumstances.” This the GiC did. Or at least, we are told that it did.

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