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

Representatives from the Haisla, Haida, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Heiltsuk, Nadleh Whut’en, Nak’azdli, Gitga’at and Gitxaala Nations travelled hundreds of kilometers to attend proceedings in front of the Federal Court of Appeal from October 1st – October 8th.

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, and formerly Governor of the Bank of Canada, does know something about financial risk.  And when he was asked to speak to Lloyd’s of London, an established institution in the insurance world the bri

Commencing October 1, eight First Nations will stand up in court against Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines. These Nations, along with four non-profit groups and a labour union, have filed legal challenges to the federal government’s conditional approval of the Northern Gateway Pipeline. These cases will be heard over six days, Oct.

The governments of both British Columbia and Alberta are currently consulting the public as they develop “climate leadership plans.” Here in BC the deadline for

Earlier this month, Peter Frumhoff, Richard Heede and Naomi Oreskes published an exciting article entitled “The climate responsibilities of industrial carbon producers” in the journal Climatic Change, suggesting t

Discussions of climate change tend to be predicated upon some far-off future. When reading about sea level rise, feedback loops, or other ramifications of global climate change, I often find myself honing in on timelines. I’m comforted by the hope that the dystopian future will be after I’m dead. Or so I like to think.

The summer is quickly coming to a close, and the West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) summer law student volunteers want to take this opportunity to thank our friends and mentors at WCEL for their support and guidance during the course of this amazing experience.

In May I spent time with colleagues from the Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research in Treaty 8 territory in northeastern BC listening to Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents talk about the cumulative effects of development projects on the health of their land and communities.  Over the past few decades the region has experienced a

The 10th annual Paddle for the Peace was the most emotional I've witnessed since joining the annual solidarity float down northeast BC’s majestic Peace River in protest of the proposed Site C dam.