Introduction
On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released its much anticipated decision on Aboriginal title in the Tsilhqot’in case and surprised many by granting the Tsilhqot’in Nation a declaration of Aboriginal title to approximately 200,000 hectares (2,000 km2) of land.
The Tsilhqot’in case is the first case decided by the SCC granting ...
After 115 years under the old regime, the new Water Sustainability Act received Royal Assent on Friday May 20, 2014: an historic occasion to celebrate?
Not quite yet, perhaps. The fact is the vast majority of the new statute will not have the force of law until authorized by the Lieutenant Governor in Council at an unspecified future date (section 219). With new water ...
The Province’s discussion paper Pricing B.C.’s Water has garnered a wide range of opinions since being released in March. As part of the public consultation effort regarding the new Water Sustainability Act (now at 2nd reading in the legislature), the public was given until April 8 to provide its views on water pricing and the Province’s water pricing principles.
On March 11, 2014 the BC government introduced a first reading of the Water Sustainability Act, Bill 18, the culmination of a 4-year initiative to modernize the 100-year old Water Act. Followers of this blog or BC water issues will know that the government released a comprehensive “proposal” regarding the new statute in the fall of 2013 (see our previous blog post here). ...
The Province recently approved amendments to the Water Regulation to eliminate minor but inconvenient steps in the permitting process.
BC Regulation 234/2013 amends the Water Regulation to:
i) eliminate the requirement for duplicate signatures on water license applications; and
ii) eliminate the requirement that applicants for certain non-contentious water ...
New regulations under CEAA 2012 came into force on October 24, 2013, changing the triggers for determining which projects are subject to federal environmental assessment. The Regulations Amending the Regulations Designating Physical Activities replace the Schedule of physical activities that constitute designated projects under the existing Regulation, and ...
On October 18, 2013 the BC government released a long-awaited “proposal” to replace the 100+ year-old Water Act. Four years in the making, the lengthy description of what the new Water Sustainability Act would be and how it would work is available here. No draft legislation has been provided, and the Province continues to seek public input until November 15, 2013. ...
On September 19, the Supreme Court of Canada issued two important leave to appeal decisions on cases that will be of interest to project proponents.
- In the first case, the Court declined to hear the appeal in Ross River Dena Council v. Government of Yukon, 2012 YKCA 14. The case dealt with the Yukon Government’s duty to consult with First Nations when allowing mineral ...
The Government of Alberta has announced that it is holding public consultations as part of its process to develop the new regulations under the Responsible Energy Development Act. These regulations will set out the details regarding how the new Alberta Energy Regulator will function in practice. The Calgary session will take place on February 25, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to ...
On June 29th, 2012, the British Columbia Court of Appeal handed down its Reasons for Judgment in Friends of Davie Bay v. Province of British Columbia (EAO), 2012 BCCA 293. The case dealt with the interpretation of the term “production capacity” under BC’s Reviewable Projects Regulation and has important implications for project development in BC.
At issue was the ...
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Lawson Lundell's Environmental, Indigenous and Natural Resources Blog focuses on environmental, indigenous and natural resources law, as well as related litigation. Included are summaries of significant cases from Canadian appellate courts, changes in the legal framework governing resource development including energy and climate change policy, and key decisions from the more influential regulatory bodies in Canada.
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