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Matters Commented On: Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Order 42-2021 and CMOH Order 43-2021

Good governance practices by the executive branch in how it addresses COVID-19 have largely been absent throughout the pandemic across Canada, but surely we have hit a new low in Alberta with what transpired last week. Facing criticism from the public, pleas from health care professionals, and a health care system straining under the increasing number of hospitalizations, the Premier reappeared at a September 15 press conference after a lengthy hiatus, along with the Minister of Health, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and the CEO of Alberta Health Services. The Premier was questioned about the termination of public health restrictions in early July and the decision to move towards treating COVID-19 as endemic by largely eliminating basic public health measures like testing, tracing, and isolating (a decision that the government later backpedalled on). Although the Premier was initially apologetic for ending public health restrictions in an effort to enjoy the “best summer ever,” he later stated that “I don’t apologize for the decision to relax public health restrictions in the summer….” For her part, the CMOH has admitted that July’s decisions, which were based on her recommendations, put Alberta on its devastating fourth wave trajectory and has said that she “deeply” regrets contributing to the narrative that COVID-19 was over.

Beyond Carbon Pricing: An Assessment of the Major Parties’ Other Environmental Policies

By Martin Olszynski

On September 15, 2021

In Environmental

By: Martin Olszynski and Sharon Mascher

PDF Version: Beyond Carbon Pricing: An Assessment of the Major Parties’ Other Environmental Policies

Matter Commented On: Secure the Future (Conservative Party of Canada); Forward, For Everyone (Liberal Party of Canada); Ready For Better (New Democratic Party); Be Daring (Green Party of Canada)

Climate change is widely recognized as the most important environmental problem facing humanity. Indeed, in its recent opinion upholding the constitutionality of the federal Liberals’ carbon pricing regime, the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged not only that climate change is real and caused by human activity, but also that “it poses a grave threat to humanity’s future” (References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11 (CanLII) at para 2). The unsurprising result is that climate change now dominates environmental law and policy discourse. Indeed, at times – such as the current election period – it feels like climate policy has displaced all other environmental policy entirely. As one manifestation of this, Canadian voters have access to several independent and expert assessments of the parties’ climate policies (see here, here, here, and here), but very little with respect to the parties’ remaining environmental commitments. This post is intended to help remedy that situation by focusing on the non-climate aspects of each of the major federal parties’ environmental policies. We do also provide some relatively minor commentary on those aspects of the parties’ climate policies that we feel haven’t been sufficiently addressed.

Taking the Police Act Seriously

By Lisa Silver

On September 14, 2021

In Police

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: Taking the Police Act Seriously

Case Commented On: Conlin v Edmonton (City) Police Service, 2021 ABCA 287 (CanLII)

In Conlin v Edmonton (City) Police Service, 2021 ABCA 287 (CanLII) [Conlin], a 5-panel court of appeal refines the threshold standard by which public complaints against the police are assessed by the Chief under s 45(3) of the Police Act, RSA 2000, c P-17. In doing so, the court clarifies past appellate decisions but stops short of fully expressing the Chief’s authority to send an allegation to a disciplinary hearing under the Act. As part of this power, the Chief exercises a screening function under s 45(3). If the Chief is of the “opinion” that the complaint constitutes a contravention, the allegation is then subject to a disciplinary hearing. Even when an allegation passes this threshold bar, s 45(4) allows the Chief to dismiss an allegation of misconduct when it is “not of a serious nature.”

The Federal Government’s Proposal to Address Online Harms: Explanation and Critique

By Darryl Carmichael

On September 13, 2021

In Internet Law

By: Darryl Carmichael and Emily Laidlaw

PDF Version: The Federal Government’s Proposal to Address Online Harms: Explanation and Critique

Commented On: The Federal Government’s proposed approach to address harmful content online

In late July, the Federal Government introduced its proposal for online harms legislation for feedback. It comprises a discussion paper outlining the government’s approach to regulating social media platforms and a technical paper that provides more detail on the substance of the proposed law. The proposal is part of a suite of law reform efforts by the Canadian government concerning what can broadly be categorized as platform regulation and content regulation issues. They include Bill C-10 to reform broadcasting laws, which stalled when it hit the Senate floor (for now at least) and proposed legislation to combat hate speech and hate crimes. The timing of the online harms and hate speech proposals has been a point of contention so close to the election call. Regardless of the election result in September, it is worthwhile analyzing this proposal because the Canadian government will need to prioritize law reform in this area. Online harms legislation is sweeping the globe, and Canada is well overdue to address these issues. For better or worse (as remains to be seen), new laws have been proposed or passed in Europe, the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, India, and Turkey, to name a few.

Alberta’s Plan for Climate Resilience is Government Propaganda

By Drew Yewchuk

On September 8, 2021

In Climate Change, Energy

By: Drew Yewchuk

PDF Version: Alberta’s Plan for Climate Resilience is Government Propaganda

Matter Commented On: The Canadian Energy Centre’s Request for Proposal for a Creative and Production Agency

After the 2019 Alberta election, the new government replaced the previous Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation, Alta Reg 255/2017 with the new Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation, Alta Reg 133/2019 (TIER). Both were regulations under the Emissions Management and Climate Resilience Act, SA 2003, c E-7.8. For the story of the development of TIER, refer to this post from Nigel Bankes.

TIER changed the name of the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund to the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Fund (TIER Fund). The fund accumulates money from emitters who fail to meet their emission targets. The fund can only be used for the purposes in section 10 (3)-(4.2) of the Act:

Alberta’s Vaccine Passport System: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Beyond Carbon Pricing: An Assessment of the Major Parties’ Other Environmental Policies

Taking the Police Act Seriously

The Federal Government’s Proposal to Address Online Harms: Explanation and Critique

Alberta’s Plan for Climate Resilience is Government Propaganda