New Industrial Waste Surcharge Agreements – fair?
The City of Toronto is demanding that local industries sign a draconian new form of 2012 Waste Discharge Agreement, to come into force on January 1, 2012. Unfortunately, the proposed agreement could seriously prejudice any organization that signs it. For example, it gives the City the right to determine compliance without taking scientifically valid samples. As...
Continue reading the post titled New Industrial Waste Surcharge Agreements – fair?Liability insurer need not pay for voluntary delineation and cleanup
According to Ontario’s Court of Appeal, General Electric Canada (GE) can’t make its liability insurer pay for the delineation and cleanup of a former GE property contaminated with trichloroethylene (“TCE”), because it voluntarily complied with a Ministry of the Environment request to do so.
Continue reading the post titled Liability insurer need not pay for voluntary delineation and cleanupSlips, Trips and Falls: Understanding Occupiers’ Liability
What is Occupiers’ Liability? In Ontario, the Occupiers’ Liability Act governs all claims relating to occupiers’ liability. Anyone who is in physical possession of a property, or has responsibility for and control over a property (the “occupier”) owes a duty of care to take reasonable precautions to ensure that all persons are reasonably safe while...
Continue reading the post titled Slips, Trips and Falls: Understanding Occupiers’ LiabilityIncorporation in Canada
As most small businesses grow they are faced with a difficult decision of whether or not they should incorporate. The answer to this question depends on a number of factors including but not limited to the size of the business, projected future growth and potential liability/legal risks. Advantages of Incorporation Incorporation has a number of...
Continue reading the post titled Incorporation in CanadaAccident Benefits and Insurance for ATVs and Snowmobiles
ATVs and snowmobiles can be a source of endless entertainment. However, if you do not take the appropriate steps as the owner and/or operator to protect yourself, they can also be a source of liability or lead to a personal injury that leaves you with no means to pay for your recovery. This article briefly...
Continue reading the post titled Accident Benefits and Insurance for ATVs and SnowmobilesBill 91, New Waste Reduction Act
Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley has introduced Bill 91, a proposed Waste Reduction Act, 2013. The new Act is intended to kickstart further waste diversion, especially in the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors, where waste diversion rates remain low. It will also require waste diversion costs to be embedded in the price of products, instead...
Continue reading the post titled Bill 91, New Waste Reduction ActIs Your Franchise Disclosure Document Up to Date?
What is a Franchise Disclosure Document? Franchise legislation in Canada (BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and PEI) requires that franchisors offering franchises for sale in those provinces provide prospects with a franchise disclosure document (“FDD”) prior to selling a franchise to that prospect (technically, the FDD must be delivered prior to accepting a non-refundable...
Continue reading the post titled Is Your Franchise Disclosure Document Up to Date?More cities adopting stormwater fees: you pave, you pay
In 2011, we wrote about the innovative stormwater fee adopted by Kitchener, Ontario, following English and American precedents. Instead of funding storm water management through fees for municipal water, which penalizes heavy water users such as laundries, these municipalities fund the cost of managing stormwater through taxes on those who create storm water management problems by having large...
Continue reading the post titled More cities adopting stormwater fees: you pave, you payWill Toronto go to full cost recovery in Surcharge Agreements?
In 2008, Toronto’s Auditor General’s Report on Protecting Water Quality and Preventing Pollution recommended that Toronto should charge industries the full cost of sampling, testing and treating their high strength sewage. In November 2012, Toronto Council considered, and rejected, the idea, settling for a small partial increase, presumably worried about driving more industry out of the...
Continue reading the post titled Will Toronto go to full cost recovery in Surcharge Agreements?International Chemicals Management meeting
In 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the international community adopted an ambitious target for world wide sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes by 2020: [T]hat chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment, using transparent science-based risk assessment procedures...
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