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

Cedar waxwing with wings spread, on a branch with red berries
Get to know BC's new Draft Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework

Three years after the provincial government committed to enacting legislation prioritizing biodiversity and ecosystem health, movement is finally taking shape with the release of the

smoke stacks against cloudy sunny sky
Speak up about Canada’s plans to cap oil and gas sector emissions

On December 7, during the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, Canada’s federal government released its proposed Regulatory Framework for an Oil and Gas Sector Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap.

woman hands microphone to man in red shirt outside under wooden roof with trees in background
Indigenous Law in Language: nsyilcxn with kt̓ʕápłniw̓t, Rob Edward

Rob Edward is a sməlqmíx community member & Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) tech specialist. He works with language and language translation for the sməlqmíx, the syilx people of the Similkameen Valley.

Windmills and stormy ocean
Is offshore wind energy coming to Canada?

As interest in offshore oil and gas exploration is thankfully floundering in Canada, marine renewable energy is on the rise.

Plastic Bag on rocky beach
The plastic pollution puzzle: What the court’s decision means for ocean plastic regulation

Federal Court decision reminds us all levels of government have a role to play in regulating plastic pollution  

Grizzly bear standing on wet rocks
Call on Prime Minister Trudeau to pass nature and biodiversity legislation

Sign the Parliamentary petition urging the federal government to establish a new biodiversity accountability law.

Gitxaała Nation members gathered outside the Vancouver courthouse, May 2023 (Photo: Alexis Stoymenoff)
Gitxaała pursues a partial appeal in its mineral tenure litigation

On September 26, the British Columbia Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of Gitxaała v.

Supreme Court of Canada building, Ottawa
Two wins, a loss, and a question mark: What the Impact Assessment Act reference case means for the environment

This is a detailed analysis of the case – stay tuned for a shorter summary coming soon

Jonaki working on cultural burning with Yunesit'in, April 2023.
Bridging Indigenous Law in Language and Western Science with Jonaki Bhattacharyya

In the next installments of our Indigenous law in language blog series, we wanted to talk with some scientists to see how we can begin to bridge the languages of western and Indigenous science together.

Rocky shoreline in BC
Indigenous Law in Language: Introduction

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the “UN Declaration”) recognizes that Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination and to revitalize, use, develop, and transmit to future generati