Environment Minister Murray's mandate letter
Every Cabinet minister gets his or her marching orders from the Premier or Prime Minister. These “mandates” used to be top secret, but Ontario now makes them public. Here is the mandate letter for the new Minister of Environment and Climate Change, with our emphasis added. On env…
View the post titled Environment Minister Murray's mandate letterCan the threat of personal liability stop fluoridation?
Opponents of fluoridation have started to threaten councillors with personal liability for fluoridated water, in the hope of changing municipal policy on water treatment. The province created this problem, and they should fix it.
View the post titled Can the threat of personal liability stop fluoridation?Dianne is quoted in the Globe on Green Bonds
See Richard Blackwell’s interesting story about Solarshare and Green Bonds in today’s Globe and Mail.
View the post titled Dianne is quoted in the Globe on Green BondsCrowdfunding to defend anti-fracking bylaw
The tiny Québec village of Ristigouche-Sud-Est, population 168, is crowdfunding to pay for the defence of its anti-fracking by-law, intended to protect municipal drinking water. Ristigouche is reportedly one of more than 70 Québec municipalities that have adopted anti-fracking bylaws to prot…
View the post titled Crowdfunding to defend anti-fracking bylawConvictions for not reporting natural gas?
Just as we predicted after R. v. Castonguay, the Ministry of the Environment is aggressively prosecuting in new areas of the economy, for not reporting events that are far from conventional “pollution”. This time, it was a natural gas leak. Three Ontario companies were fined $17,…
View the post titled Convictions for not reporting natural gas?Wind opponents lose health challenges around the world
A recent report by the Energy and Policy Institute documents the rejection of anti-wind health claims by 48 courts and tribunals in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US. In one anomalous US case, two turbines which had had a known problem were ordered to be shut d…
View the post titled Wind opponents lose health challenges around the worldToronto zoning change to promote Tower Renewal
Toronto contains the second largest concentration of high-rise apartments in North America. Most were built half a century ago, during the City’s post-war expansion. The Tower Renewal Project is a major initiative to update these buildings, and make them part of green and equitable future To…
View the post titled Toronto zoning change to promote Tower RenewalRegulatory tweak on export controls
The federal government has tweaked the regulations it uses, under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA 1999), to control which polluting substances can be exported from Canada. The new rules reduce redundancy, and add in Canada’s obligations under the Stockholm Convention. The o…
View the post titled Regulatory tweak on export controlsAs minimum fines get higher, is there a work-around?
As minimum fines on multiple charges lead to increasingly unfair results, defence counsel, and occasionally judges, are looking for ways to reconcile the law with what they consider to be just results. Earlier this year, the Ontario Court of Appeal slammed the door shut on two such ideas: cr…
View the post titled As minimum fines get higher, is there a work-around?Minister receptive to Commissioner's climate report
Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner issued his annual Climate Change report last month, as usual scolding the provincial government for its inaction on both mitigation and adaptation. But this year, the report got an unusual reception: the new Minister of the Environment and Climate C…
View the post titled Minister receptive to Commissioner's climate reportReceive Blog Posts
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