Join us for a free public lecture on March 20, 2017, 1230 pm, by EJS Clinic Fellow Lara Tessaro, counsel to Ontario Nature and Wildlands League in a case currently before the Supreme Court of Canada regarding Ontario's Endangered Species Act regulations.

Where: Osgoode Hall Law School, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Room 2027.

Admission free. No RSVP required.

EXTINCTION LAW IN ONTARIO:

Will endangered species find protection in the Supreme Court of Canada?

In 2007, Ontario’s new Endangered Species Act was lauded by environmental organizations as the “gold-standard” species protection law in North America. Yet over the last decade, the ESA has been badly tarnished, most notably by a 2013 regulation that exempted many industrial activities from the Act’s core prohibitions against killing species and destroying their habitats. As a result, not one endangered or threatened species in Ontario continues to receive the law’s full protection. This lecture will describe the efforts of Ontario Nature and Wildlands League to challenge the legality of this exemption regulation, in litigation currently before the Supreme Court of Canada. The talk will also consider Ontario’s diminished commitment to protecting species at risk in the broader context of Canada’s international treaty commitments and its federal Species at Risk Act.

Lara Tessaro is an environmental and administrative law practitioner who works primarily on behalf of environmental groups, including representing Ontario Nature and Wildlands League in litigation under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007. She has particular expertise in endangered species law, having litigated a number of precedent-setting cases regarding recovery planning and critical habitat. Before starting her sole practice, Lara practiced at Ecojustice Canada for eight years. In addition, she has served as junior commission counsel to both the Arar Inquiry and the Cohen Commission. Presently, Lara is pursuing an LLM (Research) at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

Presented by the Osgoode Environmental Justice & Sustainability Clinic and the York JD/Master in Environmental Studies Joint Program.