Keystone XL Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement: Next Steps & Climate Impact

By: James Coleman

PDF Version: Keystone XL Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement: Next Steps & Climate Impact

Report Commented On: Keystone XL, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

On January 31, the United States State Department issued its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to transport oil sands bitumen from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska.  The environmental impact statement was issued to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., which requires agencies to consider the environmental impact of major federal actions.

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Supreme Court Denies Leave to Appeal in Alberta Cases

By: Admin

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Cases commented on: R v Alcantara, 2013 ABCA 163; R v Hanna, 2013 ABCA 134; Young v National Money Mart Company, 2013 ABCA 264

On January 30, 2014 the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal in three Alberta cases that gave rise to four separate leave applications. The Court’s summaries of the cases, and their dispositions, are below. Jonnette Watson Hamilton posted a comment on the Money Mart decision here.

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U of C and U of A Law Profs’ Submission to the Law Society of Alberta on Trinity Western University Law School

By Jennifer Koshan, Jonnette Watson Hamilton and Alice Woolley

 PDF Version: U of C and U of A Law Profs’ Submission to the Law Society of Alberta on Trinity Western University Law School

Commented on: Letter from members of the Faculties of Law at U of C and U of A to the Law Society of Alberta

On January 28, 2014, over 30 law professors and members of affiliated institutes and centres from the University of Calgary and University of Alberta submitted a letter to the president and president-elect of the Law Society of Alberta.  The purpose of the letter was “to express our concerns on the decision making process taken to date for the approval of Trinity Western University School of Law’s program and the eligibility of TWU’s graduates to become students-at-law in Alberta.”  Trinity Western University (TWU) received approval from the British Columbia government on December 18, 2013 to open a law school. The school is anticipated to commence operations with its first class of 60 law students in September 2015. TWU is a private, Christian university which requires its students and staff to abide by a Community Covenant Agreement (available here). It is in this context that these concerned legal academics submitted the following letter:

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Canadian Law and Society Association Midwinter Conference

By Lyndsay Campbell

PDF Version: Canadian Law and Society Association Midwinter Conference

Conference commented on: Canadian Law and Society Association Midwinter Meeting

I recently attended the midwinter meeting of the Canadian Law and Society Association in Toronto. This meeting combines a small academic conference with a board meeting, mid-way between our annual meetings. The program is available here.

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The Limits to Summary Judgement in Oil and Gas Compensatory Royalty Cases

By Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The Limits to Summary Judgement in Oil and Gas Compensatory Royalty Cases

Case commented on: Laird v Sword Energy Inc., 2014 ABQB 13.

This decision of Justice Don Manderscheid confirms that it will a rare case in which a lessor will be able to obtain summary judgement for a claim of compensatory royalties under an offset well clause under an oil and gas lease. As such it casts further doubt on the correctness of Justice Lee’s judgement in 1301905 Alberta Ltd v Sword Energy Ltd., 2013 ABQB 113, which was the subject of an earlier post here.

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