PDF version: A Charter Right to Search Google
Decision considered: R v McKay, 2013 ABPC 13.
The Internet has transformed society in so many ways. Even the ways we find information and the sources we rely upon have been fundamentally transformed. It appears our legal systems need to adapt to this new reality.
PDF version: Migratory Birds and the City
Decision considered: Podolsky v Cadillac Fairview Corp. [2013] OJ No 581 (QL) [Note as of date of writing this decision is not available online at Canlii or the Ontario Court of Justice].
In this recent decision of the Ontario Court of Justice, Justice Melvyn Green finds the corporate defendant property developers and managers not guilty of charges laid against them by Ecojustice as a private prosecutor under the federal Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29 as well as the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, RSO 1990, c O.36 and the Environmental Protection Act, RSO 1990, c E.19. The substance of these charges is the physical harm or death suffered by migratory birds when they collide with urban buildings. Justice Green rules the prosecution established beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants committed the actus reus of the offences, and he also finds the defendants established on the balance of probabilities that they took reasonable steps to avoid the bird collisions. Accordingly, Justice Green acquits the defendants on all charges.
PDF version: Public Consultations on Responsible Energy Development Act Regulations
News release commented on: Alberta Government, “Province seeks input on new energy regulator” (February 13, 2013).
The Government of Alberta announced on February 13 that it will be holding public consultation sessions as part of its process to develop the new regulations under the Responsible Energy Development Act. Public consultation sessions are taking place in 18 communities across the province and began on Wednesday, February 20. A list of the 18 sessions can be found on the Alberta Energy “Regulatory Enhancement Project” web page. The Calgary session will take place on February 25, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Glenmore Inn and Convention Centre, 2720 Glenmore Trail SE.
PDF version: When is a lease issued “in lieu” of an existing lease?
Case Commented In: Canadian Natural Resources Limited v Jensen Resources Ltd, 2012 ABQB 786
In the early 1980s the Government of Alberta decided to make a clearer distinction in its tenure regime between grants of conventional petroleum and natural gas (PNG) rights and grants of oil sands rights. In implementing this policy the province went so far as to redefine the rights contained in existing Crown PNG leases. But in return, it allowed the affected PNG lessees to apply for a form of oil sands tenure for the rights that had been excluded from the PNG leases. That’s what happened in this case and the issue was whether Jensen’s gross overriding royalty (GOR) which clearly applied to the PNG leases also carried over to the oil sands rights. Justice Jo’Anne Strekaf held that it did.
PDF version: No Public Interest Standing at the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board
Decisions considered: Alberta Wilderness Association v Alberta (Environmental Appeal Board), 2013 ABQB 44; Water Matters Society of Alberta et al v Director, Southern Region, Operations Division, Alberta Environment and Water, re: Western Irrigation District and Bow River Irrigation District (10 April 2012), Appeal Nos. 10-053-055 and 11-009-014-D (AEAB), (the “EAB Standing Decision”).
Over the past decade, Alberta Environment has amended water licenses held by irrigation districts (IDs) to allow these IDs to allocate water for commercial purposes other than irrigation. Some question the authority of Alberta Environment to approve these amendments under the Alberta Water Act, RSA 2000, c W-3. The general argument here is that such change-of-purpose license amendments should be handled as a transfer of license allocation under the Water Act. And this argument is grounded on several points, including that by using the license amendment route rather than a transfer the conservation holdback provision of the Water Act is avoided and the amendment approach involves significantly less opportunity for public oversight over water management. This latter point has borne out further as public interest groups have been consistently denied standing to contest these approvals by Alberta Environment and the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). The summary point is that Alberta Environment and the EAB assert public interest groups do not qualify as “directly affected” by a license amendment, and thus have no standing to file a statement of concern with Alberta Environment and/or a notice of appeal with the Board under the Water Act to challenge the legality of these amendments.
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