Tribunal Amalgamation and Further Erosion of Public Rights Before Municipal LPAT and Environmental ERT Boards
Readers will recall our previous blog highlighting the serious inroads into justice for litigants as a result of the recent amendments, many imposed retroactively, to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. We felt that these changes provided unfair advantages to Municipalities and Proponents at the expense of affected and interested parties. The initial reaction and scope […]
Ontario’s New Excess Soil Regulations and Their Impact on Damage Claims
In spite of all of the differences of opinion on environmental issues and law, there is no doubt on the question that for damages regarding contaminated lands to be recoverable from a polluter, they must be reasonable. This proposition was established in my case Tridan Developments Ltd. v. Shell Canada Products Ltd., 2002, CanLII 20789 […]
Record of Site Condition – Useful Tool or Expensive, Time Consuming Procedure?
A great deal of discussion has and will continue to take place over the utility of obtaining a Record of Site Condition (“RSC”) for lands that have been contaminated and remediated or contaminated and not remediated but with a risk assessment based RSC. The historical background of this remedy is very old and unwritten. It […]
Contaminated Site Remediation Options – Considerations for Effective Cost Recovery from Polluters
Where a landowner encounters contamination of its landholdings, usually some form of remedial activities will be necessary in order to remove or ameliorate the contamination. The science of environmental remediation has advanced considerably in the recent past and there are numerous alternate remediation methods that can be employed for similar contamination results or different land […]
Your “Day in Court”: Changing Procedures in Tribunals Dealing with Environmental Issues
Stakeholders face many environmental issues in dealing with matters that involve interaction with either Municipal Authorities or Authorities at the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). Many procedures had been suspended with few hearings taking place from early March until recently. The resumption of hearings, in an altered state from former procedure, mandated […]
Ontario Government Reverses its Position and Reinstates the Environmental Bill of Rights
Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights has been seriously entrenched in Ontario environmental circles for many years. It provides an invaluable tool for Ontario’s citizens, to allow them to be notified of upcoming decisions, legislation, instruments or other environmental issues that the government is moving forward with. The Bill was designed to allow citizens to provide […]
