On October 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released its opinion in a reference case that examined the constitutionality of the federal Impact Assessment Act (“IAA”) and Physical Activities Regulations. The opinion of the majority—shared by five of the seven Supreme Court Justices who considered the case—is that the impact assessment process established by the IAA and Physical Activities Regulations is unconstitutional in part.

This winter, East Coast Environmental Law published a report entitled Simply Not Protected: An Evaluation of Prince Edward Island’s Legal Framework to Protect Species at Risk. This blog post offers some updates and reflections on the conversations that have happened since.

This blog post is the second installment of a two-part series inspired by the proposed Environmental Bill of Rights that was introduced to Prince Edward Island’s Legislative Assembly on April 8, 2021.

On April 8, 2021, Bill 108—a proposed Environmental Bill of Rights—was introduced to Prince Edward Island’s Legislative Assembly. The bill was tabled as a Private Member’s Bill by Lynne Lund, Green MLA for Summerside-Wilmot and party Critic for Environment, Water, Climate Change and Green Development. If it were enacted as tabled, the bill would create substantive and procedural environmental rights for all residents of Prince Edward Island.

What does it mean to be a treaty person in Canada today? The answer to that question will differ from person to person, as, for each of us, it depends on who we are, where we are from, and where we live and travel.

When I started law school four years ago, I knew that I wanted to study environmental law and human rights. I also knew that I wanted to develop skills, strength, and power that would help me to fight for and with vulnerable communities that needed capable allies in the face of environmental and climate injustice.

On February 17, 2020, I published a blog post called “Municipal Ecological Governance in Nova Scotia” that discussed, among other things, a letter that Maryse Belanger, COO of Atlantic Mining NS Corp. (“Atlantic Gold”) had sent to various provincial Ministers in February 2019.