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Cle Working Paper No.2/2021--Defending Nature Against Rodenticides, Marie Turcott
Cle Working Paper No.2/2021--Defending Nature Against Rodenticides, Marie Turcott
Centre for Law and the Environment
Anticoagulant rodenticides (i.e., rat poisons) are highly toxic compounds that have been recognized for decades to have devastating effects on wildlife species and the wider ecosystem. In this paper, I argue that the continued use of anticoagulant rodenticides is entirely inconsistent with the provincial and federal governments' obligations to citizens and the environment under their respective pesticide legislation, and that the governments' failure to fulfill these obligations is due in part to the refusal to acknowledge rights of nature. I provide an overview of the current statutory and regulatory framework for pesticides in Canada and examine the practical effects of …
Cle Working Paper No.1/2021--Grassroots And Litigation-Based Approaches To Advancing Indigenous Rights: Lessons From Extractive Industry Resistance In Mesoamerica, Justin Wiebe
Centre for Law and the Environment
Indigenous peoples are frequently recognized as excellent stewards of their traditional territories. These territories, which often exhibit extraordinary levels of biodiversity, face disproportionate and growing threats from extractive industry. In opposing these threats, Indigenous peoples increasingly rely on internationally-defined Indigenous rights, including those set out in UNDRIP and ILO Convention 169. It is uncertain, however, how these rights are most effectively advanced. In this paper, I tease out strategies — both grassroots-based and litigation-based — that show promise in this regard. Drawing on Waorani resistance to an oil auction in Ecuador and Indigenous resistance to a large-scale mining project in …
Cle Working Paper No. 3/2021--A Roof Over Our Stomachs: The Right To Housing In Canada And Its Implications For The Right To Food, Tasha Stansbury
Cle Working Paper No. 3/2021--A Roof Over Our Stomachs: The Right To Housing In Canada And Its Implications For The Right To Food, Tasha Stansbury
Centre for Law and the Environment
In 2019, the Canadian government passed the National Housing Strategy Act, legislating for the first time a human right to housing in Canada. This was largely the result of pressure from housing advocates to align Canada’s legislation with the right to housing embedded in international human rights instruments. Despite similar efforts, food rights advocates have not had the same success in having the right to food recognized in Canadian law. This paper considers the question of whether, and how, food rights advocates can use the process of achieving a legislated right to housing as a model in pursuing the legislation …
Climate Disruption In Canadian Constitutional Law: References Re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Jocelyn Stacey
Climate Disruption In Canadian Constitutional Law: References Re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Jocelyn Stacey
All Faculty Publications
This analysis considers the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11, in which a majority of the Court upheld as constitutional national carbon pricing legislation. The decision presents an excellent illustration of the legally disruptive nature of climate change. Illustrating that nothing is static in a climate disrupted world—including constitutional law—this article identifies three shifts the Court makes in relation to climate disruption. First, the decision represents a shift away from climate denialism toward a judicial willingness to confront the environmental, social and legal implications of climate change for Canada. Second, …
"A Code Red For Humanity": Judicial Relevance In A Time Of Climate Emergency, Margot Young
"A Code Red For Humanity": Judicial Relevance In A Time Of Climate Emergency, Margot Young
All Faculty Publications
The Washington Post calls it the “the biggest political story in the world, a grinding global crisis in public view.” The Globe and Mail’s coverage is more muted, but its Editorial Board notes about this crisis that “[t]wo things have since changed: urgency and ability. The danger is growing closer, but so is humanity’s capacity to avert disaster.” These statements reference the 9 August 2021 release by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of its Working Group I report, first instalment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment due out in 2022. The recent report, compiled by 234 authors based on …