Canada
- The Minister of the Environment promised new federal
regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions
from all industrial sectors. The regulations are expected
to be issued by end of March 2007.
- The House of Commons passed Bill C-288 entitled
the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act. If proclaimed
into force, this legislation requires the federal government
to comply with Article 3, paragraph 1 (i.e.
the provision requiring Canada to meet its target) of
the Kyoto Protocol within 180 days of the legislation
coming into force. This act would also require (unlike
the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999,
which permits) the government to make, amend or
repeal regulations under it or any other act to ensure
the federal government meets its Kyoto target.
- Private sector economists estimate that 40 percent of
the Toronto Stock Exchange's total market capitalization
would be affected by a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system. The economists estimate coal-fired
electricity generators and oil sands producers would
be hardest hit.
Alberta
- Following consultation with the public in the fall of
2006, a committee comprised of First Nations, Métis,
industry, environmental groups, as well as local,
provincial and federal government officials released
an interim report identifying “a vision and key principles”
for the development of Alberta's oil sands.
Recommendations include that oil sands development
honour the rights of First Nations and Métis,
the application of the precautionary principle, setting
of limits and utilizing best available technologies.
The second phase of consultation will begin in
March 2007. The final report is to be submitted to
the government by June 30, 2007. A copy of the report
can be found at:
http://www.oilsandsconsultations.gov.ab.ca
- Alberta Environment recently released Assessing
Drilling Waste Disposal Areas: Compliance Options for
Reclamation Certification. This document provides
guidance for complying with requirements to assessing
drilling waste disposal areas for reclamation,
including when Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment
work is required.
Ontario
- The Ministry of Labour has announced that the Occupational
Health and Safety Council of Ontario has
issued The Musculoskeletal Disorder Prevention Guideline
for Ontario. This guideline, while not a regulation,
may contribute to the new standard employers must
meet to take all reasonable steps to prevent these
types of injuries in Ontario workplaces pursuant to
the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Copies can
be obtained from the following website:
http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/public/PreventMSD
- Ontarians must now pay deposits for containers
when purchasing wine, beer and liquor products from
the province's licensed alcoholic beverage retailers.
While these deposits are recoverable if the containers
are returned to the retailers, the government filed
O.Reg. 17/07, which could make it an offence of the
Environmental Protection Act to seek refunds for old
containers or containers acquired outside the province.
Meet the Ministries
The attorney general of a provincial or federal government
employs all the government lawyers in that government's
service (these are truly the largest law firms in the country!).
These lawyers are often assigned to a particular ministry and
may even occupy space within a ministry's office, but their
responsibility is to execute the Attorney General's responsibility
to advise ministries about matters of law affecting those
ministries and not to actually do the work of those ministries.
This small, but important distinction is intended to ensure
that government lawyers can focus on advising the ministry
and its officials based on legal criteria, free of any political
considerations.
Grant Sprague and Darin Stepaniuk are members of the Environmental
Law Section of Alberta Justice. Rand Roszell,
Vickie Kondo and Fran Carnerie lead the Ministry of the
Attorney General of Ontario's Legal Services Branch serving
the Ministry of the Environment. Each of these groups advise
their respective ministries about environmental laws and
represent their government before the courts and administrative
tribunals such as the Environmental Appeals Board in
Alberta and the Environmental Review Tribunal in Ontario.
Did You Know?
The largest wind turbines in North America just completed
their first month of commercial operation on Prince Edward
Island. PEI Energy Corporation's Eastern Kings Wind Farm
features Vestas V-90, which is the largest model of wind turbine
in North America.