Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy

Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) founded in 1970, has established itself as one of a handful of Canadian organizations that has the competence, the resources and the capabilities to conduct important research on environmental law and policy. Its research encourages communication, cooperation, and collaboration among all stakeholders. CIELAP has worked to develop a dialogue and make great strides to encourage debate and change. The group is known for its work on emerging and neglected issues including biotechnology, incineration, and pharmaceutical waste.

The decisions our governments make today will shape the world for generations to come. We cannot create sustainable communities without changing the policy and legal framework that shape them.

History

The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and the Canadian Environmental Law and Research Foundation (CELRF) were founded in 1970 (CELRF became CIELAP in 1988.) The two groups defended the environment by operating the Citizen's Environmental Law Advisory Office and Complaint Service. By holding public meetings and various other information sessions, CELA and CELRF became the focal point for serious review and evaluation of environmental law in Canada. Both groups critiqued the Ontario government's Environmental Protection Act (EPA) leading to many new amendments and changes to the Act to better serve the public's interest. As a result of CELA and CELRF's persistence and tenacity, more than 30 amendments were made between the first reading and final passage of the Environmental Assessment Act. CIELAP also participated in the development of the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights and held the first conference in Ontario on its implementation.

CIELAP has become an international presence and continues its policy research, producing reports on a variety of topics including Reducing the Environmental Risks of Biotechnology; Cleaning up the Land: A National Dialogue on Contaminated Site Remediation in Canada.

CIELAP Highlights

2001 - 2006

CIELAP’s “There is No AWAY”, a publication on the impacts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in water, facilitated the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s decision to designate pharmaceuticals as a Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste under the Waste Diversion Act. (2006)

CIELAP’s 2004 submissions to the External Advisory Committee for “Smart Regulations” were utilized by the Federal Government to identify shortcomings and plan a way forward on the issue of food safety derived from agricultural biotechnology.

The Government of Canada now publishes a report twice a year updating Canadians on the implementation of ‘Smart Regulations’.

CIELAP has created educational materials in coalition with the Toronto District School Board and Environment Canada, specifically focused on Climate Change Policy curriculum.

In 2001 CIELAP, CELA and Environmental Defence launched Pollutionwatch.org.

The website that provides information about facilities that release pollutants into the community, which include: toxic pollutants, criteria air contaminants, greenhouse gases, and air pollutants that lead to global climate change.

1996 - 2000

CIELAP was a key player in the case of Karge v. Ontario (Ministry of the Environment and Energy) in clarifying the meaning of “charge and control” under the Environmental Protection Act. This case specifies responsibility of waste removal, specifically the removal of existing waste on an individual’s property.

CIELAP and CELA presented a brief: Mining and Canada’s Environment to the Federal House of Commons Standing Committee of National Resources. The brief called for thestrengthening and modernizations of federal environmental regulations.

CIELAP raised awareness in the Biotechnology debate by educating the public with their Citizens Guide to Biotechnology [revised in 2002] .

Through the published work of John Swaigen, CIELAP was an intervener in R v. Imperial Oil Ltd. Swaigen’s work was cited in the majority reasoning when the court held that there was a lack of due diligence by Imperial Oil.

In the case of Harvard College v. Canada (Commissioner of Patents), Harvard researchers developed a process where they could breed genetically modified mice that would possess a cancer-promoting gene; they referred to as OncoMouse or Harvard Mouse. The school applied for a patent license to genetically breed mice. During Harvard’s federal appeal, CIELAP stood as an intervener promoting the rejection of patenting the mice. The court agreed with CIELAP and other interveners ruling, “higher life-forms are not patentable under the meaning of "invention" in section 2 of the Patent Act.”

CIELAP’s series of hazardous waste reports raised awareness of Ontario’s lax hazardous waste laws. In 2002, the Ontario government made regulatory changes, requiring waste to meet specific treatment standards before it is put in landfills or land farms. Ontario now has the same pre-treatment requirements as the United States and is becoming less of a dumping ground for US imports.

CIELAP’s submission to the Federal Standing Committee on the Environment in 1996 led the government to agree to create a separate part of CEPA to specifically manage the issue of living products; establishing criteria for biotechnology products.

In September 1994 CIELAP presented its recommendations for the reform of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

1988 - 1995

The Environmental Bill of Rights was established in 1993 in Ontario after CIELAP had worked tirelessly since 1978 to have it developed.

As a result of CIELAP and CELA’s persistence more than 30 amendments were made between the first reading and final passage of the Environmental Assessment Act.

A two-year research project of CIELAP’s concluded that existing environmental laws in the 12 jurisdictions of the Great Lakes ecosystem were designed to manage pollutants, not eliminate them or cope with the movement of pollutions through air, land and water.

1970 - 1988

CIELAP took home the Heritage Canada Communications Award “for promoting in an outstanding manner Canada’s heritage and the need to preserve it”.

CIELAP published the one of a kind - a practical guide for lay people who need legal knowledge to protect their environment or to protect themselves from hazards in the environment. Updates of the guide were subsequently published in 1978 and again in 1994.

"*** This text has became a fundamental text for students and practitioners."

CIELAP developed the Environmental Law Reports, which were later purchased by Carswell Canada. These reports feature environmental law decisions from all Canadian jurisdictions selected by experts in the field.

ee also

*Canadian Environmental Law Association

External links

* [http://www.cielap.org Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy homepage]