2. Canada

Abstract

The year 2019 saw the most significant environmental legal developments in Canada in constitutional law disputes over the regulation of the environment between the federal and provincial governments and provincial and municipal governments. The litigation centred on the federal government’s legislative initiative to meet its international climate change commitments through the restriction of carbon emissions and the resistance of some provincial governments to the federal scheme. On a second litigation front, the province of Alberta’s efforts to build the Trans Mountain pipeline extension to move more oil to the British Columbia coastline in order to serve oversea markets were temporarily stymied by the British Columbia government’s use of its provincial environmental approvals laws to limit the flow of fuel into the province. Third, the city of Victoria unsuccessfully attempted to restrict the use of plastic bags without having prior provincial approval in place. Fourth, receivers in bankruptcy were unsuccessful in using the federal bankruptcy laws to shield bankrupt estate assets from provincial regulators addressing abandoned oil wells. Finally, the newly elected Ontario government, which had campaigned during the election to dismantle the provincial cap-and-trade program, was unsuccessful in arguing that the election campaign itself could act as an effective substitute for the consultation process under the provincial Environmental Bill of Rights. The government ultimately followed the consultation process and proceeded to repeal the cap-and-trade program.