Environmental & Sustainable Development

We live in interesting times. The Director of the Consumer Fairness and Market Fairness Division of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (the “CFIA”) recently spoke at a conference on safe… Learn More

In recent months, discussions around artificial intelligence (AI) have become ubiquitous with news stories and social media posts highlighting its benefits and challenges appearing daily. New AI tools and services… Learn More

AMPs are upon us. Following a reported 135 million–liter sewage spill into the Red River from a broken City of Winnipeg sewer pipe, Manitoba Environment Minister Tracy Schmidt made it… Learn More

In 1850 the Anishinaabe of Lake Huron and Lake Superior made treaties with the Crown. In exchange for ceding their land, the Anishinaabe received, among other things, the promise of… Learn More

By the time this article goes to print, Manitoba is expected to have a new legislative regime that will not only settle uncertainty as to who owns and who has… Learn More

It’s interesting times in the natural resource world in Manitoba, as the new provincial government sets its agenda. Seal River Watershed MOU On January 18, 2024, the Governments of Canada… Learn More

When Canada’s fathers of Confederation (there were no women at the table) first met in Charlottetown in 1864, little could they anticipate that the courts would still be hashing out… Learn More

On August 29, 2023, Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (a Saskatchewan-based group of independent First Nations) held a press conference announcing that it would be commencing a legal action in… Learn More

As I write this article, the Manitoba Wildfire Service is advising that wildfire danger in central and eastern Manitoba is high to extreme. Nine active wildfires are burning. Seven thousand… Learn More

In May, I had the good fortune to attend an international mining law conference. One of the featured panels dealt with occupational health and safety law and the potential liability… Learn More

On June 29, 2021, thermometers reached 49.6° C in Lytton, British Columbia, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada. The following day a wildfire, stoked by drought conditions and 70… Learn More

The “Numbered Treaties” in Canada are a series of eleven post-Confederation Treaties that were concluded between Canada and the signatory First Nations from 1871 to 1921. Together, they cover a… Learn More

On February 11, 2021 the Manitoba Departments of Conservation and Climate (CC) and Agriculture and Resources Development (ARD) announced that a letter of intent had been signed by their respective… Learn More

Stakeholder perception can play a larger role than reality, especially when it comes to government approvals of natural resource development projects. Developers in the extractive resource sector need to be… Learn More

On December 6, 2019 the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Resolute FP Canada Inc. v. Ontario (Attorney General). The Court held that a 1985 indemnity granted by… Learn More

Royalty interests form an important part of mineral ownership and mining finance.  Under a royalty arrangement the operator of a mining project will pay to the royalty holder a stream… Learn More

One hundred fifty years after Confederation, there is a flurry of activity in the Canadian court system in relation to Canada’s Constitution and its impacts on natural resource development and… Learn More

The Supreme Court of Canada released its much anticipated decision in Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton Limited (a case more commonly known as Redwater) on January 31, 2019. You… Learn More

In 2012 the then Government of Canada’s Omnibus budget legislation included significant amendments to the environmental assessments and approval provisions of both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Fisheries… Learn More

On October 3, 2018, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced that Manitoba would no longer include a “carbon tax” in the Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan. Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna… Learn More

The current Liberal Federal Government is moving full-swing in its promised amendments to the legislation governing the federal environmental assessment process and the environmental protection provisions related to the Federal… Learn More

Disputes are often resolved through arbitration. Arbitrators often interpret and apply the law in arriving at a decision. What happens when an arbitrator gets it wrong and how wrong does… Learn More

“’Greenpeace’ is a global fraud.” So begin the allegations in the colourful preliminary statement of the Complaint filed in 2016 in the U.S. District Court in Georgia on behalf of… Learn More

In a news release dated March 16, 2017, the Province of Manitoba announced its plans to remove the general prohibitions against the expansion of hog barns and manure storage facilities… Learn More

Is Your Natural Resource Development Subject to Municipal Controls? Cowichan Valley Regional District v. Cobble Hill Holdings Ltd. Cobble Hill owned land within the Cowichan Valley Regional District (the CVRD).… Learn More

Do I need an Environment Act licence? Whether or not your business requires an Environment Act licence is a question that many manufacturers may not have considered. If you are… Learn More

Does your company own a site that has been used for manufacturing for a long time? Has there ever been an environmental site assessment? Was the assessment report filed with… Learn More

On February 29, 2016 a judge of the British Columbia Provincial Court ordered Teck Metals Ltd. to pay a $3 Million penalty.  Teck had pleaded guilty to three offences under… Learn More

Author Vivian E. Rachlis is no longer with TDS. Please contact us for further assistance. Timelines Start Now Manitoba legislation requiring barrier-free delivery of services in both the public and… Learn More

No Piercings Yet On September 4, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-awaited decision in the case of Chevron Corporation v. Yaiguaje.  The ruling settles the law in… Learn More

On February 26, 2015 the British Columbia Court of Appeal reversed a $1.75 million damage award granted in 2013 to Moulton Contracting Ltd. against the B.C. Government in respect of… Learn More

New Rules under the Fisheries Act The federal Fisheries Act is one of the oldest pieces of legislation in Canada, pre-dating Confederation itself. With its prohibitions against the deposition of… Learn More

In a March 22, 2012 press release, Gord Mackintosh, Manitoba’s Minister of Conservation and Water Stewardship, announced that his department is undertaking a review of Manitoba’s groundwater legislation.  There are… Learn More

In Canada v. IPSCO Recycling Inc., a first attempt by Environment Canada to make use of the civil injunction powers under s.311(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA),… Learn More

Is Liability Growing? It is often assumed that the common law concerning environmental contamination is an expanding field in which the only certainty is the risk of legal liability. As… Learn More