Panelists address the varying success of the recent youth climate Charter challenges in Canada, with an overview of Mather, La Rose, and Enjeu; the Likhts'amisyu Wet'suwet'en Charter challenge; the Beaver Lake Cree cumulative impacts case; legal tactics that have worked in other countries; and more. Co-hosted by MES/JD program and the Osgoode Environmental Justice and […]
News
First Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritized for First Nations, but is it Enough?
By: Jin Xu Due to the forward thinking of many First Nations communities shutting their gates at the first signs of the COVID-19 crisis back in early summer of 2020, these communities managed to contain the virus. However, once winter arrived, the combination of COVID-19 being more virulent in the winter due to dry air […]
Policing poverty and public space during COVID-19
By: Lauren Graham The environmental justice movement addresses the need for equitable access to environmental services. Environmental services are often defined in reference to the spaces where we live, work, and play. Therefore, access to public space is an environmental justice issue. Disparate access to public lands has had a significant impact on low-income communities […]
Clinic Directors urge Ontario to immediately cease mineral staking and permitting processes during COVID-19
Clinic Directors Dayna N Scott and Estair Van Wagner join Osgoode Hall Law School colleagues to urge the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines to immediately cease mineral staking and permitting processes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote Indigenous communities are facing unique governance burdens to protect the health and well-being of their communities. The […]
Osgoode Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic partners with OKT LLP for new summer fellowship
The Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic (EJSC) is excited to announce a new partnership with leading Aboriginal law firm Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP (OKT) for a pilot summer student fellowship. This summer OKT will be sponsoring one EJSC student to work with both the firm and the clinic. Through the fellowship, an EJSC student will […]
Why Environmental Lawyers Should Care About Gentrification
Why Environmental Lawyers Should Care About Gentrification By: Alexandra Potamianos Community Over Commodity Activist. Source: Communities Over Commodities Report. The early environmental justice movement fought against the disproportionate placement of toxic waste facilities and other locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) in low-income communities of color. More recently, environmental justice movements have expanded their […]
Municipalities and Climate Change: How Municipalities Can Make Climate Emergency Declarations Meaningful
By: Sarah Murphy How Do Municipalities Fit into the Climate Change Conversation? Many governments are turning their minds to how they can respond to climate change and growing public concern. Federal and provincial governments in Canada are battling over jurisdiction to implement climate change policies on issues such as carbon taxing and pipeline expansion. However, […]
Environmental Law: What 2019 Can Tell Us About 2020
By: Ryan Chawner A flurry of important environmental law and policy news closed out 2019 and lay the groundwork for 2020. Climate justice activists scored a big win with the Dutch Supreme Court decision in The State of Netherlands v Stichting Urgenda (Urgenda). This decision affirmed that there is a real threat from climate change, […]
Can Toronto enact a by-law that bans single-use plastics?
By: Madhavi Gupta The Environmental Context Concern about single-use plastics has come to the forefront of the public’s attention, with a rising wave of support calling corporations to reduce their use. At a result, restaurants such as Harveys and East Side Mario’s are adopting biodegradable straws, while grocery stores such as […]
Federal Environment Minister approves Regional Impact Assessment following submission from Osgoode Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic
In what is being described as “a stunning success,” Osgoode Hall Law School’s Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic has received word from the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change that its request for a regional impact assessment for proposed mining and road infrastructure in Ontario’s Ring of Fire has been accepted. Dayna Scott Minister […]
