By: Admin
PDF Version: ABlawg Year in Review 2025
As is tradition, ABlawg closes 2025 with a summary of highlights over the past 12 months, including some statistics, examples of ABlawg impact, and a synthesis of topics covered by authors.
Matter Commented On: Canadian Law Societies’ Ours to Protect Campaign
PDF Version: The Political Threat to the Rule of Law in Canada
Recently, the law societies across Canada came together to launch? Ours to Protect, a national campaign to raise awareness about the importance of the rule of law. In Canada, when we talk about threats to the rule of law, we tend to glance nervously at chaos in other countries, especially the United States. The United States has provided a dramatic study in how quickly respect for legal norms can erode. The Trump White House openly vilified judges who ruled against it – accusing them of abusing their powers and even suggesting they be impeached or prosecuted. Some years back, the same president incited an attack on Congress itself. It was a stark reminder that even free societies can teeter when their leaders flout the rule of law.
By: Nigel Bankes and Drew Yewchuk
Matters Commented On: Notice of Termination of the federal environmental assessment for the Grassy Mountain Coal Project, December 19, 2025 and Bill 14, Justice Statutes Amendment Act, and Corb Lund’s no coal citizen initiative petition.
PDF Version: A Final Lump of Coal for 2025
This is our final coal update post of the year. We don’t have a court decision to post about, but there have been two noteworthy developments on coal. First, the Notice of Termination of the federal environmental assessment for the Grassy Mountain Coal Project, and second, Corb Lund’s no coal citizen initiative petition.
By: Nigel Bankes
Case Commented On: Gitxaala v British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2025 BCCA 430 (CanLII)
PDF Version: Gitxaala and the Conundrum of UNDRIP Implementing Legislation: The Sky Has Not Fallen In
This case, which commenced as a judicial review application, involved a challenge to the implementation and/or constitutional validity of British Columbia’s hard rock mineral regime under the terms of the Mineral Tenure Act, RSBC 1996, c 292 (MTA). The petitioners also claimed that the MTA regime was not consistent with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or UN Declaration) as required by section 3 of British Columbia’s “implementing” legislation, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, SBC 2019, c 44 (DRIPA). This post focuses on that aspect of the case which was the only live matter by the time the case got to the Court of Appeal. A majority of that Court found in favour of the petitioners while the dissent concluded that the matter was not justiciable.
By: Kaitlin Schaaf
Case Commented On: Lho’Imggin v Canada, 2025 FC 1586 (CanLII)
PDF Version: The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Reaches Canada: The Federal Court Opens Door to New Climate Claims
In July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released an Advisory Opinion (AO) on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change, [2025] ICJ Rep 456. As Professor Majekolagbe pointed out in their analysis, the AO affirmed that international climate change treaties create binding obligations on states and under customary international law, states have a duty to prevent significant harm to the climate system.