CELA submitted a letter to Ontario's Commissioner of the Environment in relation to the recent passage of Bill 109 in a manner that contravenes public participation rights under the Environmental Bill of Rights.
When Ontario’s Auditor General recently released her money-for-value audits and annual report under the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), considerable media, public, and political attention focused on her findings regarding species at risk, spills of hazardous chemicals, waste management, and climate change matters. However, the Auditor General’s EBR report also flagged a little-known but significant problem: the Ontario government’s ongoing failure to conduct any public education or outreach programs to inform Ontarians about how to use their important rights under the EBR.
CELA recommends that consultation cease on a proposed regulation under O Reg 568/21 and that no decision be made, until such time as additional detail (including a draft regulation) and an adequate comment period are provided to allow the public to meaningfully participate in the decision‐making, pursuant to the intent of Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993.
Decision on Bill 197 legal challenge reaffirms right to participate in environmental decision-making
In this blog, staff lawyer Richard Lindgren explains why CELA supports the Global Pact on the Environment.
The Environmental Review Tribunal has granted the Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations (FOTTSA), represented by CELA lawyers, leave to appeal a Permit to Take Water issued by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks under the Ontario Water Resources Act. The Permit concerns aggregate washing for a gravel pit operation in Tiny Township, Simcoe County.
