POLI 325: Canadian Environmental Policy and Politics (Rev. C4) Report a Broken Link

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.

Unit 1: An Introduction to Environmental Values, Policy, and Politics


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.

Unit 4: Aboriginal Law and the Environment


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.

Unit 6: Environmental Law in the Global Context


International Court of Justice. (2018). Frequently Asked Questions, International Court of Justice (website).
United Nations Climate Change. (2014). Kyoto Protocol, United Nations Climate Change (website).
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. (2018). Frequently Asked Questions, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (website).

Unit 7: Private and Public Law


Department of Justice. (2018). Consolidated Acts, Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada.
Office of the Prime Minister. (2018). Mandate letters, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada (website).

Unit 10: The Tar Sands and Climate Change


Government of Canada. (2022). Greenhouse gas emissions - Canada.ca (website).
McNeill, Jodi. (2016, December 5). Oilsands tailings back in the spotlight (blog). Pembina Institute.

Unit 12: Environmental Assessment, Life Cycle Analysis, Cost Benefit Analysis, and other Sustainability Indicators


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).

Unit 13: Crown Lands and the Species at Risk Act


Species at Risk Act, SC 2002, c 29.

Unit 16: Administrative Decision-Making Processes


National Energy Board. (2018). Court challenges to National Energy Board or Governor in Council decisions, National Energy Board (website).
Tsleil-Waututh Nation. (2014, May 2). Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) legal challenge to the National Energy Board’s (NEB) review of Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project (media legal backgrounder). Tsleil-Waututh Nation.