Baker (Northstar Directors') liability appeal has settled
Ten corporate officers and directors have paid $4.75 million to be released from the Northstar Canada cleanup order, even though the Ministry of the Environment admits that none of them were at fault for causing the contamination. Some were not even on the Northstar Canada board. The Enviro…
View the post titled Baker (Northstar Directors') liability appeal has settledImposing liability on the innocent bad news for economy
Current Ministry of the Environment efforts to impose environmental cleanup liability on the innocent are bad news for the Ontario economy, according to an Expert Report by noted economist Sherry Cooper. They are also harmful to the social contract and the rule of law, according to Dianne…
View the post titled Imposing liability on the innocent bad news for economyNo personal environmental conviction without knowledge or participation
When is an individual liable to conviction for a corporate environmental offence? The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has insisted that management personnel are automatically liable for corporate environmental offences, and has laid numerous charges on this basis. The Summary Conviction …
View the post titled No personal environmental conviction without knowledge or participationWho pays when polluters can’t?
In theory, Canadians are pretty comfortable with the polluter pay principle, at least when it applies to other people. (We do not seem to feel the same way about carbon taxes.) In theory, the polluter-pay principle ensures that polluters, rather than the public or the immediate victims of po…
View the post titled Who pays when polluters can’t?Kawartha Lakes appeal heard by Court of Appeal
The City of Kawartha Lakes has appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal from a Ministry of the Environment Order, which imposed cleanup liability on the City for contamination it did not cause. The City argues that the MOE should have imposed those cleanup costs on the polluters, meaning eith…
View the post titled Kawartha Lakes appeal heard by Court of AppealLiability for recreational trails
In our December article for Municipal World, we wrote about municipal liability to cyclists for failing to maintain roads in a proper state of repair. Municipalities could similarly find themselves liable as the occupiers of recreational path systems, if the trails are not adequately maintained.
View the post titled Liability for recreational trailsMunicipal responsibility for cycling safety
As the number of cyclists increases, what must municipalities do to keep them safe?
View the post titled Municipal responsibility for cycling safetyMore rulings for cyclists against municipalities
Two Quebec cases have held municipalities liable, where cyclists were injured when they lost control of their bicycles after riding over unexpected defects in the road. In Wilson Davies c. Montreal (Ville de), the cyclist was severely injured when she was thrown from her bicycle and became a…
View the post titled More rulings for cyclists against municipalitiesNew federal wastewater regulations a challenge for municipalities
Dianne spoke last month at the annual Canadian Water and Wastewater Association “Window on Ottawa”, on potential risks to municipalities of the new Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations under the Fisheries Act, expected to appear shortly in the Canada Gazette. Bottom line, the …
View the post titled New federal wastewater regulations a challenge for municipalitiesMore thinking about Smith v Inco
We continue to mull over Smith v. Inco, and the major implications that has for virtually all cases involving Rylands v. Fletcher, and for a significant number of nuisance cases. Watch our video on the case, made in cooperation with Nimonik. Then please let us know what you think.
View the post titled More thinking about Smith v IncoReceive Blog Posts
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