Can Environmental Laws Fulfill Their Promise? Stories from Canada

Nigel Bankes, Sharon Mascher and Martin Olszynski
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Nigel Bankes: Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Sharon Mascher: Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Martin Olszynski: Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 9, 1-25

Abstract: Canadian environmental law has changed dramatically over the last 50 years, responding to some of the flaws and weaknesses identified by commentators seeking to explain the continuing trend in environmental degradation. The aim of this article is to tell the story of three pieces of Canadian environmental legislation, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act , the federal Species at Risk Act , and Alberta’s Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act , with a view to exploring whether the environmental ambition underlying these pieces of legislation is being realized. Our overall conclusion is that there is a significant gap between the ambition of these three pieces of environmental legislation and their actual implementation but this gap arises from design choices made by the legislature and the executive, rather than something inherent in the law itself.

Keywords: environmental law; cumulative effects management; endangered species; environmental appeal boards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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