The Curious Case of the Greater Sage Grouse in Alberta

By Shaun Fluker

 PDF Version: The Curious Case of the Greater Sage Grouse in Alberta

Legislation commented on: Emergency Order for the Protection of the Greater Sage Grouse, PC 2013-2045 

The Greater Sage Grouse is on the brink of disappearing from the Canadian landscape and, in doing so, is leaving its mark on the Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29 (SARA).  Readers may recall that the sage grouse recovery strategy prepared under SARA was the subject of dispute several years back over the extent to which critical habitat for a species listed as endangered or threatened must be identified in the strategy (See Nigel Bankes’ ABlawg post “Is SARA growing teeth?”). The sage grouse recovery strategy has recently been amended (2013) to include all known critical habitat – both mating sites and year-round habitat – in Canada and to identify threats to the sage grouse (see here).  But since the overwhelming majority of sage grouse habitat falls on provincial lands in Alberta, SARA offers little real protection to the sage grouse here in the absence of an Order in Council from federal Cabinet directing that SARA apply to provincial lands.  Cabinet issued an Emergency Protection Order under section 80 of SARA in December 2013 that, to my surprise, applies to Alberta lands and the Order comes into force on February 18, 2014.  This comment discusses the significance of the Order, adding to existing commentary (see Martin Olszynski’s earlier ABlawg post here, Janice Walton of Blakes LLP here and Jason Unger of the Environmental Law Centre here).

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Alberta Reviews Compliance with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation

By Ana Maria Radu

PDF Version: Alberta Reviews Compliance with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation

Document Commented On: 2012 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Program Results

In November 2013, Alberta released the review of 2012 compliance results with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation, Alta Reg 139/2007 (SGER). Alberta was the first Canadian province to develop legislation regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The SGER requires established facilities (i.e. facilities existing in 2000) that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of GHGs a year to reduce their emissions intensity by 12% below a baseline established between 2003 and 2005. Relative to business as usual, the 2012 compliance review shows that the results have been less than stellar.

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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 →

The WTO Panel Decision on the EU’s Rules on the Marketing of Seal Products: Who Won and Who Lost?

By Elizabeth Whitsitt and Nigel Bankes

PDF Version: The WTO Panel Decision on the EU’s Rules on the Marketing of Seal Products: Who Won and Who Lost?

Decisions commented on:  World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel Report, European Communities – Measures Prohibiting the Importation and Marketing of Seal Products, 25 November 2013,  and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami et al v European Commission, Case T-526/10, Judgement of the General Court (EU), (Seventh Chamber), 25 April 2013, available here (currently on appeal)

Regulations commented on: Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 on trade in seal products, (Framework Regulation) and Commission Regulation (EU) No 737/2010 of 10 August 2010 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on trade in seal products (Implementing Regulation) (collectively the Sealing Regulations) (both available here along with other background information and reports)

The WTO Panel handed down its decision in the complaints made by Canada and Norway in relation to the European Union’s ban on placing seal products on the market on November 25, 2013.  The reaction in the media was immediate with most outlets indicating that the Panel had upheld the ban.  The CBC, for example, reported that “[t]he WTO, while finding that the EU’s so-called Seal Regime had violated international trade agreements, also determined that the ban was valid because of a controversial public morals clause”. Gloria Galloway in the Globe and Mail reported that “[a] WTO ruling released on Monday says the ban the EU imposed in 2010 undermines the principles of fair trade, but is justified because it ‘fulfills the objective of addressing EU public moral concerns on seal welfare’”.

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The Supreme Court (sort of) Thinks About Lawyers as Advisors

By Alice Woolley

PDF Version: The Supreme Court (sort of) Thinks About Lawyers as Advisors

Case commented on: Wood v Schaeffer, 2013 SCC 71

When police officers in Ontario kill or injure someone in the course of their duties, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigates their conduct.  The government created the civilian SIU to avoid the problems – both real and perceived – in the investigation of police officers by police officers.  The creation of the SIU does not, however, eliminate the complexity of investigating alleged crimes by police.  The Supreme Court of Canada addressed one of these complexities in its recent decision in Wood v Schaeffer, 2013 SCC 71: how does a police officer’s regular duty to make notes during an investigation operate when the officer may him or herself become a subject of, or direct witness to, the matters investigated?  In particular, what opportunity ought a police officer have to consult counsel when preparing notes in those circumstances?

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