This course examines how the environmental policy process in Canada works. In the course, students become familiar with Canadian environmental organizations and government structures, the courts’ interpretation of environmental legislation, and the historic development of, and changes associated with, the environmental movement in Canada and in North America.
The course identifies and evaluates some of the environmental-policy tools that governments have used, or might use in the future. These include regulation, environmental assessment, and mediation (multi-stakeholder discussions and bargaining), as well as market-based tools such as environmental taxes and user fees, green products, environmental subsidies, and subsidy removals.
National Energy Board. (2018). About us, National Energy Board (website).
Please see in particular the Who We Are link. Please also keep in mind that as of early 2018, the federal government had introduced legislation to scrap the NEB and create a new Impact Assessment Agency of Canada “to conduct more extensive consultation with groups affected by development . . . , to assess not just the environmental considerations, but also health, social and economic impacts, as well as effects on Indigenous peoples, over the long term” (Tasker, 2018). Reference: Tasker, J. P. (2018, February 8). Ottawa to scrap National Energy Board, overhaul environmental assessment process for major projects. CBC News—Politics. |
Clyde River (Hamlet) v. Petroleum Geo‑Services Inc., 2017 SCC 40.
Please read up to Cases Cited. |
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. (2011). Aboriginal consultation and accommodation—Updated guidelines for federal officials to fulfill the duty to consult—March 2011. Government of Canada.
Please read the Executive Summary and Sections I to IV of Part A—Overview. |
Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, 2014 SCC 44, [2014] 2 S.C.R. 256.
Please read up to Cases Cited. |
Government of Canada. (2022). Greenhouse gas emissions - Canada.ca (website). |
McNeill, Jodi. (2016, December 5). Oilsands tailings back in the spotlight (blog). Pembina Institute. |
European Commission. (2016). European platform on life cycle assessment (LCA), Environment, European Commission (website). |
United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). Human development reports, United Nations Development Programme (website).
You can find the latest Human Development Report on this website (they are published annually). |
Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29. |