Fall 2022 Events Bulletin

In this busy time of summer holidays wrapping up, students returning to school, and the start of conference season, we are sharing a special “events edition” of the CELA Bulletin. This edition features important webinars, conferences and events – both in-person and virtual – coming up in September and October.

We’ll return to our usual full Bulletin, packed with casework and law reform updates, later this month. But watch for it early – we’ll be sending it out on Friday, September 23rd in order to provide space and support a focus on Truth and Reconciliation Week that takes place September 26-30.

Fall Events

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which honors the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

Taking place this year from September 26-30, Truth and Reconciliation Week 2022 is a national program open to all schools across Canada. This year, the theme is “Remembering the Children”. Learn more on the website of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Information Session for a Site-Specific Air Pollution Standard at Lennox Generating Station

Thursday, September 15, 2022. 12:00-1:00pm ET
Registration is required for this free session; learn more and register here.

CELA will be co-hosting a free webinar with the local legal aid clinic, the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre, to provide the community with information about a recent application by Ontario Power Generation for a site-specific air pollution standard for its Lennox Generating Station.

If granted, the facility would be entitled to exceed the provincial air pollution standard for sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulphuric acid for a 10-year period. Sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and sulphuric acid emissions may cause impacts to human health, especially in combination with emissions from other industrial facilities in the area. The facility is located close to Bath and Napanee.

The webinar will provide legal information on:
1- What is the Environmental Registry of Ontario and how can the public make comments on this proposal?
2- Why is it important to comment on the Environmental Registry of Ontario posting?
3- What is a site-specific standard?
4- How do the air pollution standards OPG is requesting compare to the provincial standards?

Where’s the Protection? A Webinar Series on the Review and Reform of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act

Wednesdays from 1:00-2:15pm ET – September 21, October 12, 19 & 26, 2022

Registration is required for this free session; learn more and register here.

The Canadian Government will likely introduce Bill S-5, an Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), into the House of Commons this fall.

The Canadian government is at a critical phase in reforming the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). CEPA is Canada’s main environmental legislation and regulates everything from the most dangerous pollutants, to plastic manufactured items, to genetically engineered animals. Robust changes to CEPA are urgently needed during the upcoming parliamentary process if CEPA is to be protective of the environment and health in the coming years.

Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and Nature Canada invite you to a 4-part webinar series discussing CEPA reform and the need to significantly strengthen the Act. This series builds on years of work by both organizations calling for significant reform of CEPA.

CELA and Nature Canada want you to engage in the upcoming parliamentary process. The webinars will highlight where your support and voice can be added during the parliamentary process in the coming weeks.

LIEN Annual Conference 2022 – Code Red: Protecting Vulnerable Populations from the Impact of Extreme Heat

This year’s Low-Income Energy Network conference will explore the rise in climate change-related extreme heat events and the need to start recognizing that we have a climate emergency and put in place protocols that protect our communities.

Click here to learn more and to register.

Topics will include:

Why extreme heat is a rising challenge in Canada
Tracking of heat-related deaths in Canada
Best practices on maximum heat bylaws and tenant protections in other jurisdictions
Exploring air conditioning as a vital service
Opportunity for immediate action at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels

This event is open to anyone with an interest in ending energy poverty by increasing energy access and fighting climate change.

CELA is a founding member of Low-Income Energy Network (LIEN), a diverse network of organizations and individuals with a vision of an Ontario where everyone has equitable access to conservation and financial assistance programs and services to meet their basic energy needs affordably and sustainably.

Great Lakes Public Forum

Registration is open for the 2022 Great Lakes Public Forum, taking place this year in Niagara Falls, Ontario on September 27-29, 2022. The United States and Canada are hosting the triennial Great Lakes Public Forum, open to members of the public, organizations, and agencies with an interest or involvement in restoration and protection of the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement calls for the United States and Canada to convene the Great Lakes Public Forum once every three years to discuss the state of the lakes, progress made under the Agreement and proposed priorities to guide science and actions over the next three years. The Forum also provides an opportunity for the public to provide input to the International Joint Commission, who are tasked with advising the United States and Canada with respect to the implementation of the Agreement.

This year’s Forum holds special significance as it falls on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States.

CELA staff will be attending the event in-person and virtually, and will be speaking on panel presentations.

Photo Credit – Kathy Cooper

Looking for a Publication?

In addition to the search function on our website, all our publications are listed in reverse chronological order on our website here, or you can view a full list here. Looking for an older publication? CELA’s archives contain all of CELA’s documents up until 2017.

You might also be interested in perusing the library housed by the CELA Foundation.

The CELA Foundation website is also home to the Environmental History Program, which includes interesting projects such as Environmental Beginnings and all the publications from the former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.