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The Unbearable License Of Being The Executive: A Response To Stacey's Permanent Environmental Emergency, Bruce Pardy

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

This article responds to Jocelyn Stacey's "The Environmental Emergency and the Legality of Discretion in Environmental Law". In her article, Stacey attempts to establish the legitimacy of unfettered executive discretion to deal with environmental issues, but the justification that she provides is not up to the task. She asserts that all environmental issues are emergencies but she does not explain why they are so. She proposes to resolve the problem of executive discretion by redefining the rule of law, thereby rendering it an empty shell. Environmental protection and the rule of law do not push in opposite directions. Instead, it …