Can you ever do indirectly that which you cannot do directly? The answer appears to be yes, in certain circumstances according to the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench decision in Northrock Resources v ExxonMobil Canada Energy, 2016 SKQB 188. This case considers this issue in the context of rights of first refusal ("ROFR") when dealing with oil and gas transactions.
Among ...
On June 20, 2016 the Government of Canada announced its review of several environmental and regulatory processes. The review will focus on three areas:
- the federal Environmental Assessment process, which was revised in 2012 by the Conservative government,
- modernization of the National Energy Board, and
- the federal Fisheries Act and Navigation Protection Act, both of ...
In response to the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench decision in Redwater Energy Corporation (Re), 2016 ABQB 278, the Alberta Energy Regulator ("AER") has issued Bulletin 2016-16 (the "Bulletin") to minimize the risk to Albertans.
In Redwater the Court held that a trustee in bankruptcy has the right to disclaim unproductive oil and gas assets, including those subject to ...
Update: On June 9, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear an appeal from Yukon Court of Appeal’s Peel watershed decision. Click here to read our earlier blog post on the Court of Appeal’s decision handed down November 4, 2015.
On April 8, 2016, the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”) sent a sombre reminder to licensees and their directors and officers, of their corporate responsibilities when ceasing operations because of insolvency or for any other reason. Bulletin 2016-10 reinforced the need for compliance with all AER requirements when ceasing operations. Among several other ...
On April 4, 2016, the Government of Alberta (“GoA”) implemented its first formal consultation process between the government, project proponents, and Métis Settlements with the release of The Government of Alberta’s Guidelines on Consultation with Métis Settlements on Land and Natural Resource Management, 2016 (“Guidelines”) and The Government of ...
Late last week, the Government of Canada released a proposed methodology for estimating upstream GHG emissions from proposed oil and gas projects undergoing federal environmental assessment. This comes on the heels of the Government’s announcement in late January of its new guiding principles for project review, one of which included assessment of “direct and ...
On February 12, 2016, the Alberta Energy Regulator ("AER") overhauled its compliance and enforcement program with the release of the Integrated Compliance Assurance Framework ("ICAF") and Manual 013: Compliance and Enforcement Program ("Manual 013").The ICAF and Manual 013 supersede and replace Directive 019:Compliance Assurance ("Directive 019"). The AER ...
On January 14, the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that the Province had improperly abdicated its decision making authority with respect to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project by entering into an Equivalency Agreement with the federal government. Furthermore, the Court found that the Province had breached its duty to consult with First Nations by not ...
In a set of press releases issued today (here and here), the Government of Canada announced 5 principles that it says will guide its discretionary decision-making for projects being reviewed in environmental assessment, along with a set of interim measures it says will be implemented in two existing pipeline reviews.
While today’s announcements will likely have an ...
About Us
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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