West Coast Environmental Law
Encyclopedia
West Coast Environmental Law is an environmental law and public advocacy organization based in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
. It believes in a just and sustainable society where citizens are empowered to protect the environment and environmental protection is enshrined in law. It fulfills its mission in a variety of ways. First, it works to shape existing and future environmental policies in British Columbia and in Canada. Work in this area spans a variety of topics including green communities, climate change
, energy
, forest
s and land use, aboriginal law and environmental assessment. Second, it provides free legal advice regarding environmental issues, and it provides grants, through its Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
, to individuals or groups who need to hire legal representation to resolve an environmental conflict. Third, it tracks and analyzes developments in British Columbian and Canadian environmental policy, and distributes this information to the public, through its Environmental Law Alert Blog, monthly Legal E-Brief newsletter, and Facebook
, Twitter
and YouTube
pages. Since 1974, West Coast Environmental Law has been recognized as British Columbia’s legal champion for the environment.
, to take the lead in using test litigation to defend and protect the environment. West Coast Environmental Law in turn narrowed its focus to drafting and advancing legislative reform initiatives and providing public legal education. From 1990 to present West Coast Environmental Law and Ecojustice Canada have avoided duplication by cooperating and coordinating on areas of potential overlap, and having distinct market niches.
Green Communities
Work in this area is focused on reducing urban impacts, strengthening local government environmental by-laws, policies and practices, and advancing community livability and sustainability through strategic use of the law and law reform.
Climate Change
Work in this area is focused on creating a legislative framework that will allow British Columbia and Canada to do its part to protect and sustain the Earth’s atmosphere.
Energy
Work in this area is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by working on projects that shift us away from on our reliance on fossil fuels and towards sustainable renewable energy sources.
Forests and Land Use
Work in this area is focused on transforming the way rights and responsibilities about land use are understood in British Columbia –creating new legal mechanisms for resource tenures (licenses) and land use decision-making that are more democratic, sustainable and just.
Aboriginal Law
Work in this area is focused on providing legal and strategic advice to First Nations
and First Nations political organizations including crafting law reform solutions that address Aboriginal Title
and Rights and foster ecological and cultural sustainability
.
Environmental Assessment
Work in this area focuses on law and policy reform discussions at both the federal and provincial levels, and work on a number of fronts to advance its law reform objectives.
, to individuals or groups who need to hire legal representation to resolve an environmental problem. The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund is the only source of environmental legal aid in British Columbia and is used to hire lawyers, at a legal aid
rate. The grants have allowed recipients to obtain legal advice on a wide range of issues; pursue alternative dispute resolutions; appear before government tribunals; participate in environmental assessments and challenge government decisions in court. Since 1989, when the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
was established, it has provided over $4 million dollars in grants, which have helped support and resolve more than 500 legal cases in British Columbia. In one such case marine biologist and fish farm activist, Alexandra Morton, used funding from West Coast Environmental Law, to successful challenge the constitutionality of allowing fish farms in British Columbia.. In another such case, a group of citizens known as Coal Watch, used funding from West Coast Environmental Law, to oppose a proposed coal mine located in Baynes Sound in Vancouver Island.
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It believes in a just and sustainable society where citizens are empowered to protect the environment and environmental protection is enshrined in law. It fulfills its mission in a variety of ways. First, it works to shape existing and future environmental policies in British Columbia and in Canada. Work in this area spans a variety of topics including green communities, climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s and land use, aboriginal law and environmental assessment. Second, it provides free legal advice regarding environmental issues, and it provides grants, through its Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund is a legal aid program based in British Columbia, Canada that provides grants to individuals, community groups and environmental organizations who need to hire legal representation to assist them in resolving an environmental problem or dispute...
, to individuals or groups who need to hire legal representation to resolve an environmental conflict. Third, it tracks and analyzes developments in British Columbian and Canadian environmental policy, and distributes this information to the public, through its Environmental Law Alert Blog, monthly Legal E-Brief newsletter, and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
pages. Since 1974, West Coast Environmental Law has been recognized as British Columbia’s legal champion for the environment.
History
West Coast Environmental Law was founded in 1974 and is the oldest environmental law organization in British Columbia, Canada. It was established to promote the cause of environmental law reform and to empower citizens so that they could work together to bring about progressive change. For much of its history, it has been engaged directly in law reform, legal education and test case litigation. In the late 1980s it was determined that a stand-alone environmental law organization, which would devote itself primarily to test case litigation, was required. As a result, West Coast Environmental Law played an active role in the establishment of Sierra Legal Defence Fund, now known as Ecojustice CanadaEcojustice canada
Ecojustice Canada , is a Canadian non-profit environmental law firm that uses litigation to defend and protect the environment.-Mission:...
, to take the lead in using test litigation to defend and protect the environment. West Coast Environmental Law in turn narrowed its focus to drafting and advancing legislative reform initiatives and providing public legal education. From 1990 to present West Coast Environmental Law and Ecojustice Canada have avoided duplication by cooperating and coordinating on areas of potential overlap, and having distinct market niches.
Notable achievements
West Coast Environmental Law has a lengthy and successful history of influence on environmental legislative reform in British Columbia and in Canada. It has helped establish and shape many significant environmental legislative initiatives. Some of its notable achievements include:- Playing a role in the development of several key environmental laws, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment ActCanadian Environmental Assessment ActThe Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, S.C. 1992, c. 37 is an Act of Parliament that was passed by the Government of Canada in 1992...
and the Canadian Environmental Protection ActCanadian Environmental Protection ActThe Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1999 is "An Act respecting pollution prevention and the protection of the environment and human health in order to contribute to sustainable development."...
. - Representing the Peace Valley Environmental Association at hearings on the controversial Site C damSite C damThe Site C dam is a proposal by the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority for a large-scale earth fill hydroelectric dam on the Peace River in north-eastern British Columbia, Canada...
. - Working, as part of a delegation, to help negotiate the Kyoto ProtocolKyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
. - Negotiated the amendments that resulted in the protection the Great Bear RainforestGreat Bear RainforestThe Great Bear Rainforest is the name coined by environmental groups in the mid-1990s to refer to a region of temperate rain forest in Canada, on the British Columbia Coast between Vancouver Island and Southeast Alaska...
. - Helping to draft the "good wood" certification standard for British Columbia, which independently verifies that wood products come from forests that are managed in an ecologically and socially responsible way.
Areas of Work
West Coast Environmental Law works to ensure that progressive, stringent environmental laws are created and enforced. It currently specializes in areas dealing with Green Communities, Climate Change, Energy, Forests and Land Use, Aboriginal Law and Environmental Assessment.Green Communities
Work in this area is focused on reducing urban impacts, strengthening local government environmental by-laws, policies and practices, and advancing community livability and sustainability through strategic use of the law and law reform.
Climate Change
Work in this area is focused on creating a legislative framework that will allow British Columbia and Canada to do its part to protect and sustain the Earth’s atmosphere.
Energy
Work in this area is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by working on projects that shift us away from on our reliance on fossil fuels and towards sustainable renewable energy sources.
Forests and Land Use
Work in this area is focused on transforming the way rights and responsibilities about land use are understood in British Columbia –creating new legal mechanisms for resource tenures (licenses) and land use decision-making that are more democratic, sustainable and just.
Aboriginal Law
Work in this area is focused on providing legal and strategic advice to First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
and First Nations political organizations including crafting law reform solutions that address Aboriginal Title
Aboriginal title
Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism...
and Rights and foster ecological and cultural sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
.
Environmental Assessment
Work in this area focuses on law and policy reform discussions at both the federal and provincial levels, and work on a number of fronts to advance its law reform objectives.
Environmental Legal Aid
West Coast Environmental Law provides legal information or advice to members of the public who are facing an environmental problem. In some cases, it will provide brief legal opinions or letters where doing so has the potential to achieve an important environmental result. Some examples of successes as a result of this service include; an environmental assessment on a major resort was put on hold to allow better information to be collected; a public advisory committee was put in place to examine concerns about a highway project; a medical health officer recommended changes to Vancouver’s bylaws dealing with wood smoke; and a municipal proposal to build a road through a park was dropped.Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
West Coast Environmental Law provides grants, through its Environmental Dispute Resolution FundEnvironmental Dispute Resolution Fund
The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund is a legal aid program based in British Columbia, Canada that provides grants to individuals, community groups and environmental organizations who need to hire legal representation to assist them in resolving an environmental problem or dispute...
, to individuals or groups who need to hire legal representation to resolve an environmental problem. The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund is the only source of environmental legal aid in British Columbia and is used to hire lawyers, at a legal aid
Legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial.A number of...
rate. The grants have allowed recipients to obtain legal advice on a wide range of issues; pursue alternative dispute resolutions; appear before government tribunals; participate in environmental assessments and challenge government decisions in court. Since 1989, when the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund is a legal aid program based in British Columbia, Canada that provides grants to individuals, community groups and environmental organizations who need to hire legal representation to assist them in resolving an environmental problem or dispute...
was established, it has provided over $4 million dollars in grants, which have helped support and resolve more than 500 legal cases in British Columbia. In one such case marine biologist and fish farm activist, Alexandra Morton, used funding from West Coast Environmental Law, to successful challenge the constitutionality of allowing fish farms in British Columbia.. In another such case, a group of citizens known as Coal Watch, used funding from West Coast Environmental Law, to oppose a proposed coal mine located in Baynes Sound in Vancouver Island.
Environmental Law Alert Blog, Legal E-Brief Newsletter, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
West Coast Environmental Law tracks and analyzes developments in British Columbian and Canadian environmental policy, and distributes this information to the public, through its Environmental Law Alert Blog, monthly Legal E-Brief newsletter, and Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. Specifically, it comments on proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection; stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect the environment. By doing so it helps ensure that citizens hear both sides on controversial issues and policies.In The News
West Coast Environmental Law is recognized as being the trusted authority on environmental policy, legislation and regulation in British Columbia. Staff lawyers are regularly quoted by the media commenting on environmental issues in the news. Recently, staff lawyer Andrew Gage was quoted in the Victoria Times Colonist, commenting on the state of enforcement of environmental laws in British Columbia "The result is less protection for B.C.'s environment, we're talking about toxins going into the environment, we're talking about people's health, which is at stake if they can't enforce these laws.". Staff lawyer Josh Paterson, was also recently quoted in the Globe and Mail, commenting on the need for a legislative ban on oil tankers sailing off of the coast of British Columbia “We have a world-class coast that needs strong, legal protection from the threat of oil spills – whether from Enbridge or any other project. We're going to keep working toward a legislated ban.”.See also
- Ecojustice CanadaEcojustice canadaEcojustice Canada , is a Canadian non-profit environmental law firm that uses litigation to defend and protect the environment.-Mission:...
- Canadian Environmental Law AssociationCanadian Environmental Law AssociationThe Canadian Environmental Law Association is a non-profit, public interest organization established in 1970 to use existing laws to protect the environment and to advocate environmental law reforms...
- Environmental Dispute Resolution FundEnvironmental Dispute Resolution FundThe Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund is a legal aid program based in British Columbia, Canada that provides grants to individuals, community groups and environmental organizations who need to hire legal representation to assist them in resolving an environmental problem or dispute...