The New Alberta Wetland Policy: White Area Wetlands, Just a Pawn in the Game?

PDF Version: The New Alberta Wetland Policy: White Area Wetlands, Just a Pawn in the Game?

Policy commented on:  Alberta Wetland Policy

On September 10, 2013, the Alberta Government released its new Alberta Wetland Policy (“New Wetland Policy”).  The release was long anticipated. It was preceded by 20 years of an “interim policy” applying to only part of the province, and by about 10 years of both lengthy and spurts and starts of consultations and processes aimed toward the province developing a comprehensive wetland policy approach applicable to the entire province. This ABlawg post presents and discusses the New Wetland Policy in a comparative, legal/political, and historical context. It describes the importance of wetlands and outlines wetland protection and conservation approaches in Alberta and elsewhere. It reviews the New Wetland Policy in this context to demonstrate how the New Wetland Policy compromises the protection of slough/marsh wetlands. A forthcoming ABlawg post by University of Calgary LLM student Dave Poulton will focus on the New Wetland Policy’s mitigation hierarchy and the offset provisions.

Continue reading →

R v Booyink: A Non-Stop Charter(ed) Flight to Protest in Canadian Airports?

PDF Version: R v Booyink: A Non-Stop Charter(ed) Flight to Protest in Canadian Airports?

Case commented on: R v Booyink, 2013 ABPC 185

If the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (“CCBR”) hasn’t yet made an appearance in your town, city or neighbourhood, chances are they soon will.  The CCBR is an educational, pro-life activist organization devoted to the stated objective of making Canada abortion-free.  Its goals are to expose as many Canadians as possible to images of, and to engage directly in conversations about, abortion.  The CCBR sees its messaging as educational in nature which might include any of the following strategies:

Continue reading →

The Ethical Problem with the Quebec Charter of Values

PDF Version: The Ethical Problem with the Quebec Charter of Values

Policy considered: Quebec Charter of Values

Even prior to this week’s publication of Quebec’s proposed Charter of Values, its prohibition of “ostentatious” religious symbols being worn by public employees had come under heavy criticism.  Critics suggested that it violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms through its interference with religious freedom.  They also suggested that it violated international and domestic human rights laws. On this blog Jennifer Koshan noted the discrepancy between the Charter of Values and the constitutional values recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Quebec Secession Reference (here).  Continue reading →

The Quebec Secession Reference and the Proposed Charter of Quebec Values

PDF Version: The Quebec Secession Reference and the Proposed Charter of Quebec Values

Case/Policy considered: Reference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 SCR 217; Charter of Quebec Values

It’s as if Pauline Marois and her government knew we would be discussing the Quebec Secession Reference case in constitutional law this week when they finally released their plans for a Charter of Quebec Values on September 10. The Quebec Secession Reference case famously decided that Quebec did not have the unilateral right to secede from Canada under domestic or international law. It is also taught by many constitutional law professors as our first case, given its important pronouncements on sources of constitutional law and Canada’s constitutional history and values. The constitutional values – actually unwritten principles of constitutional law – that the Supreme Court found to be relevant in the context of Quebec secession were federalism, democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law, and respect for minorities (at para 32). The Court’s elaboration on these principles takes on a new relevance in light of Quebec’s proposed Charter.

Continue reading →

The Crown Owes No Duty to Consult Indigenous Communities Before Ratifying a Bilateral Investment Treaty

PDF Version: The Crown Owes No Duty to Consult Indigenous Communities Before Ratifying a Bilateral Investment Treaty

Case commented on: Hupacasath First Nation v Minister of Foreign Affairs Canada and the Attorney General of Canada, 2013 FC 2009

In this case Chief Justice Crampton of the Federal Court Trial Division rejected the application of the claimant Hupacasath First Nation (HFN) for a declaration that Canada is required to engage in a process of consultation and accommodation with First Nations, including HFN, prior to ratifying or taking other specific steps that will bind Canada to the terms of the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (CCFIPPA) (text available here). It was common ground (at paras 11 and 12) that while the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade had consulted with stakeholders, that consultation did not extend to HFN or other First Nations.

Continue reading →