Category Archives: Environmental

Gardening on Vacant Land –Verdant History, Volatile Endeavor

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Comment: Gardening on vacant land in Calgary – Part I

On the Victoria Day long-weekend in 2012, Donna Clarke and some volunteers planted potatoes on a vacant lot next door to her home in Scarboro on 17th Avenue S.W.  The fence was painted in bright colours and painted tires were used as planters.  The lots were owned by Scarboro Projects Ltd., an affiliate of Vancouver mortgage firm who had foreclosed on a number of adjacent properties in 2009.  Three of the buildings had been ordered demolished by the City of Calgary in 2011 as part of a crackdown on derelict properties.

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Decapitating the Fisheries Act by removing the HADD: A Critique of the Rationale

PDF version: Decapitating the Fisheries Act  by removing the HADD: A Critique of the Rationale

Decision considered: Federal government proposal to remove habitat protection from the Fisheries Act.

The federal government of Canada proposes to remove the habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act RSC 2000, c F-14, s 35. Countless Canadians have vigorously spoken out against this proposal because removing these provisions would be a critical and fundamental change not only to federal legislative approach, but also to the management, protection, and well-being of fisheries in Canada. Continue reading →

The European Fuel Quality Directive: Will It Slay or Will It Go?

By: Matthew Ducharme

PDF Version: The European Fuel Quality Directive: Will It Stay or Will it Go? 

Document Commented On: Draft Implementing Measure to the European Union Fuel Quality Directive, February 23, 2012

On February 23, 2012, a European Union (EU) drafting committee voted on a draft law that discriminates against bitumen. This was the Draft Implementing Measure to the European Union Fuel Quality Directive (Implementing Measure). The Canadian press reported the vote ended in a stalemate. The press also noted that the law would be reconsidered in the late spring or early summer (National Post; CBC; Globe and Mail).

If the EU enacts the law it will have made a step in its fight against climate change, but the market for bitumen may be negatively impacted. If the law dies, Canada can expect a higher price on the sale of its bitumen in overseas markets. This note examines the February 23 vote within the EU law making process.

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The Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel and the Governor in Council

 PDF version: The Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel and the Governor in Council

Documents commented on: (1) An open letter from the Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, on Canada’s commitment to diversify our energy markets and the need to further streamline the regulatory process in order to advance Canada’s national economic interest, January 9, 2012;

(2) National Energy Board Act, RSC 1985, c N-7, s 52;

(3) Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, SC 1992, c 37, s 37.

On January 9, 2012, the day before the hearings by a Joint Review Panel (JRP) were due to open for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline (NGP), the federal Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver took the extraordinary step of issuing an Open Letter to Canadians. He followed this up with a series of media appearances. In his letter Minister Oliver made four main points. First, Canada needs to diversify its export markets for many products including oil. Second, “environmental and other radical groups” seek to block this opportunity and any underlying projects. Third, these “radicals” will “hijack our regulatory system,” stack public hearings, “kill good projects,” exploit any opportunity they can to delay project reviews. These radicals have access to foreign money to implement their goals. The delays that ensue are unacceptable. Fourth, Canada needs a fair and independent process to assess projects based on science and the facts – but the current system is out of balance and “is broken.”

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CCS is now a CDM Project Activity

By: Ana Maria Radu

PDF Version: CCS is now a CDM Project Activity  

Decision Commented On: Decision -/CMP.7 Modalities and procedures for carbon dioxide capture and storage in geological formations as clean development mechanism project activities – adopted in December 2011

The 17th United Nations Climate Change Conference and the seventh meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) took place in Durban in November-December 2011 and brought hope again to the international community fighting climate change. The negotiations were reasonably successful and blended together the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Action Plan, and the Cancun Agreements, concluding with a decision adopted by Parties that a universal legal agreement on climate change is to be adopted as soon as possible, but no later than 2015.

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