2. Canada

Abstract

In the past year, unfazed by the logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada continued to make substantial legal and political advancements towards a more robust regime of environmental protection. In terms of federal case law, the References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act reached the Supreme Court of Canada, where it was confirmed in March that the federal Parliament has the jurisdiction to enact minimum national standards of a greenhouse gas pricing law (2021 SCC 11, <https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/cb/2021/38663-38781-39116-eng.aspx>). Hence, the constitutionality of the 2018 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act was also upheld. At a subnational level, provincially, the British Columbia Court of Appeal declared, in Victory Motors (Abbotsford) Ltd v Actton Super-Save Gas Stations Ltd (Victory Motors), that the Environmental Management Act does not preclude ‘full indemnification’ of all legal costs reasonably incurred from remediating contaminated land (2021 BCCA 129, <https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/ca/21/01/2021BCCA0129.htm>). The Ontario Divisional Court in September found in Greenpeace Canada (2471256 Canada Inc) that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing failed to comply with the public consultation requirements under section 15 of the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), prior to expanding Ministerial Zoning Orders on the Environmental Registry (2021 ONSC 4521, <https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onscdc/doc/2021/2021onsc4521/2021onsc4521.html?autocompleteStr=2021%20ONSC%204521&autocompletePos=1>). It should also be noted that the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, Environmental Review Tribunal, Board of Negotiation, Conservation Review Board, and the Mining and Lands Tribunal have been consolidated into a singular institution: the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).