Natural Resources
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November 14, 2024
ONCA orders rehearing of youth-led climate lawsuit
On Oct. 17, 2024, the Ontario Court of Appeal (the ONCA) delivered its much-anticipated decision in Mathur (Litigation guardian of) v. Ontario, 2024 ONCA 762. In a unanimous ruling, the ONCA concluded that the application judge misinterpreted the applicants’ arguments, mistakenly viewing them as urging the court to impose obligations on the Ontario government to address climate change in a way that would protect rights to life, liberty, security and equality under ss. 7 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter).
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November 14, 2024
Removal of untranslated English decisions on website won’t end novel lawsuit against SCC: plaintiff
The Supreme Court of Canada’s removal of thousands of pre-1970 (mostly unilingual-English) judgments from its website won’t end an unprecedented Federal Court lawsuit that aims to compel the top court’s registry to fix alleged violations of the Official Languages Act by translating the court’s unilingual decisions into the other official language, says the plaintiff language rights group Droits collectifs Québec.
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November 08, 2024
SCC elaborates on framework, scope for judicial review of regs and other subordinate legislation
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 9-0 that the Vavilov “reasonableness” standard for judicial review — informed by some of the Katz Group principles — presumptively applies when courts review whether subordinate legislation is authorized by law.
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November 08, 2024
FCA dismisses appeal regarding ministerial order related to PEI potato wart infestation
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal related to the judicial review of an order declaring Prince Edward Island as “a place infested with potato wart” and prohibiting the movement of the province’s seed potatoes without written authorization from an inspector.
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November 07, 2024
Federal Court of Appeal upholds random drug testing for ‘safety critical’ nuclear workers
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld pre-placement and random alcohol and drug testing requirements for safety-critical workers at nuclear facilities, rejecting a union challenge to their constitutionality.
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November 07, 2024
Trudeau government falling behind in protecting at-risk animal and plant species: federal watchdog
Working at its current glacial pace, the resource-starved independent committee of experts, tasked by law with making the species-at-risk status assessments and reassessments needed to protect and restore endangered species, will take almost 30 years to assess the currently most vulnerable species and more than a century to assess those that are potentially at risk of disappearing, warns a new report from Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
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November 06, 2024
How Trump’s win impacts Canada: Immigration, trade opportunities for Americans
With Donald Trump re-elected as U.S. president, Canada now faces a range of impacts that could affect its policies and relationships across multiple areas, including immigration, trade, defence and climate. Trump’s focus on strict immigration controls, “America-first” economic policies and his defence priorities are likely to shape the dynamics of U.S.-Canada relations, driving many to explore Canada as an alternative destination. Here’s a look at what Trump’s win could mean for Canada.
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November 04, 2024
Fed. Ct. judges take to YouTube to address bar’s & litigants’ non-disclosure of gen-AI court filings
Knowing that at least some (if not how many) lawyers and self-represented litigants are failing to disclose their use of ChatGPT or other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools when they create content for documents filed in Federal Court, the national trial court has taken the novel step of posting YouTube videos, titled “Compliance with the Notice on the Use of Artificial Intelligence,” featuring judges who explain how to comply with the mandatory AI-use disclosure obligations the court imposed 10 months ago.
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November 04, 2024
Canada releases draft regulations to further cap pollution from oil and gas sector
The federal government has published draft regulations aimed at capping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pollution from the oil and gas sector, incentivizing the industry to invest in “technically achievable” decarbonization for emission reductions by 2030–2032.
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November 01, 2024
OSC study finds ESG ratings influence investor decisions, but difficult to understand
An Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) study has found that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues were among the most important factors influencing investor preferences when selecting investment funds — second only to a fund’s past performance.