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The Greening Of Environmental Law, D. Paul Emond

Articles & Book Chapters

Environmental law in Canada has moved through three distinct stages. The first, beginning with the passage of the early environmental protection statutes, is described as symbolic regulation. "Regulation," because these laws did purport to regulate activities that had deleterious effects on the natural environment, and "symbolic" because the level and degree of regulation was largely symbolic. By the mid '70s and early '80s these laws had given way to two complementary developments. The first involved the introduction of environmental assessment (or audit) statutes and procedures; the second involved a strengthening and expanding of the traditional regulatory tools. The clear thrust …