Environmental Law Alert Blog

Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:

  • proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
  • stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
  • emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.

If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.

2020 Canadian Law Blog Awards Winner

On October 1st, 2025, the Alberta government announced its intention to develop a proposal for a new crude oil pipeline to transport raw bitumen to the north Pacific coast. Unfortunately this idea fails to acknowledge some important realities.

This blog provides a reality-check on five key issues that must be central to the conversation about the idea of a proposed pipeline to the BC coast.

Carney once wrote that “climate change is the most pressing issue of our time.” It’s time to act like it. Canadians deserve a government that meets its climate obligations, not one that gives up on them when they become inconvenient. Anything less is a betrayal – not just of climate policy, but of future generations.

We trust our governments to make decisions for us, including making investments now that will keep our communities safe tomorrow.

The BC government has appointed two climate policy experts to conduct a review of CleanBC, and it’s time to make your voice heard. British Columbians are encouraged to provide input by filling out the CleanBC survey by August 1, 2025.

This Canada Day we are reflecting on the values that we need most to stand up in this moment and the history we need to learn from. Here is what some of our staff have to say.

The BC Supreme Court has allowed the Province’s case against McKinsey to proceed as a class action, finding potential links between the company’s opioid-related misinformation and harm in BC. It raises the possibility of future lawsuits against fossil fuel companies and others for their climate deception.

Send a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and the Senate, asking them to scrap Bill C-5 and send it back to the drawing board. Canadians deserve – and need – better.

Burning global fossil fuel products kills hundreds of British Columbians every year and causes widespread harm, including heat injury, asthma, the spread of disease and heart disease.

Check out a list of ten questions you can ask to find out where your federal election candidates and their parties sit on key priorities for climate, nature and communities.

Take the pledge today and tell parties that this federal election, you are voting for a resilient, sustainable and fair Canada.