Is the Federal Government Intent on Hurrying Along the ‘Sixth Extinction’?

By: Martin Olszynski

PDF Version: Is the Federal Government Intent on Hurrying Along the ‘Sixth Extinction’?

Legislation Commented On: Species At Risk Act, SC 2002 c 29

Sitting on a shelf in my office – unread since roughly this time last year – is Elizabeth Kolbert’s book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. Ms Kolbert’s book recently won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, having been described by its judges as “an exploration of nature that forces readers to consider the threat posed by human behaviour to a world of astonishing diversity.” Also sitting on my computer’s desktop – unfinished since this past December – has been a blog post about the federal government’s failure to list species under the Species At Risk Act (SARA) since 2011, notwithstanding the fact the scientific body responsible for recommending listing, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), has made 67 such recommendations since that time (all of which was reported in the Globe and Mail here; after this story broke three bat species were listed, but to my knowledge the government hasn’t changed its basic position, as further discussed below). My plan was to read Ms. Kolbert’s book and use it to frame a post describing yet another example of the federal government’s total disregard for the rule of law when it comes to species at risk (see e.g. here). But I am already late to the party and, having just blogged about environmental-law-as-process and its implications for the environment, it seems to me that such a post makes for a reasonable Exhibit A. The fact that I have a huge pile of marking sitting in front of me right now is also not irrelevant.

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Still Just the Facts: Applying the Bright Line Rule

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: Still Just the Facts: Applying the Bright Line Rule

Case Commented On: Statesman Master Builders v Bennett Jones LLP, 2015 ABCA 142

In a unanimous judgment the Alberta Court of Appeal has reversed a decision by Justice Macleod removing Bennett Jones LLP as counsel for its longstanding client Matco Investments Ltd. on the basis of a conflict of interest (Justice Macleod’s decision is here). In a blog on that earlier judgment I suggested that the decision indicated the importance of the facts to the outcome in conflicts cases. While the firm had taken significant steps to manage the conflict, the case management judge may have been influenced by the fact it had not been as absolutely candid as it could be:

The unfortunate thing for the firm here is that in many ways it had been candid with Statesman. Its e-mail regarding the advance consent was pretty blunt as to what it was trying to do. But the lesson may be that there is very little judicial tolerance for an absence of candour in situations of conflict; a little bit of candour won’t do (“The more things change…”)

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Environmental Laws as Decision-Making Processes (or, Why I am Grateful for Environmental Groups this Earth Day)

By: Martin Olszynski    

PDF Version: Environmental Laws as Decision-Making Processes (or, Why I am Grateful for Environmental Groups this Earth Day)             

Event commented on: Earth Day

This past weekend, as part of the Canadian Institute for Resource Law’s “Saturday Morning at the Law School” series, I gave a free public lecture on the basic nature and features of Canadian environmental law. April 22 being Earth Day, I thought I would try to capture some of that discussion in a blog post. My starting point was that while Canadians may assume that their environmental laws consist of standards and limits designed to protect the natural environment, the reality is that many of our most important environmental laws simply set out a process for decision-making, where environmental considerations have varying degrees of importance. As further set out in this post, this reality has important implications for the state of the environment and the mechanics of government accountability, which in turn suggest a fundamental and indispensable, if also imperfect, role for environmental groups in this context.

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Keeping Faith Out of the Public Square: Is Calgary City Hall Offside?

By: Kathleen Mahoney

PDF Version: Keeping Faith Out of the Public Square: Is Calgary City Hall Offside?

Case Commented On: Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City), 2015 SCC 16

O God, author of all wisdom, knowledge and understanding. We ask Thy guidance in our consultations to the end that truth and justice may prevail, in all our judgments. Amen. (Prayer recited at Calgary City Council meetings)

What is wrong with this invocation? The Supreme Court of Canada would say nothing, as long as it is not invoked at City Hall to open meetings. In its recent decision in Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City), 2015 SCC 16 [Saguenay], the Court seems to have closed all the doors to future prospects of religious faith playing a role in the public square. Calgary’s mayor Naheed Nenshi disagrees, saying that there is room in the public square for faith, and that Calgary City Hall will explore ways of getting around the ruling. (Calgary Herald, April 15, 2015). Will this be possible? Constitutionally speaking, it will be very difficult.

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Does the Stinert Decision Signal the End of the Preliminary Inquiry?

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: Does the Stinert Decision Signal the End of the Preliminary Inquiry?

Case Commented On: Regina v Stinert, 2015 ABPC 4

For years the efficacy of the preliminary inquiry has been questioned, studied and pronounced upon by lawyers, government officials, and the courts. Despite debate and amendments, the inquiry still exists as the legislative “shield” between the accused and the Crown, protecting, as Justice Estey explains in the 1984 majority decision of Skogman v The Queen, [1984] 2 SCR 93 (at page 105), “the accused from a needless, and indeed, improper, exposure to public trial where the enforcement agency is not in possession of evidence to warrant the continuation of the process.” However, the preliminary inquiry is at risk. Both levels of government see no value in the procedure, only costs. The courts, since Skogman, have followed suit finding the preliminary inquiry irrelevant and contrary to the efficient and effective administration of justice. Certainly, the recent Alberta Provincial Court decision in Regina v Stinert, 2015 ABPC 4 reflects this view and, as argued in this post, may signal the end of the preliminary inquiry.

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