Water: A priceless treasure?
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 19 February 2015 18:00
- Written by editor
In this issue: Water: A priceless treasure? | Preventing another Mount Polley | Another legal challenge to Enbridge’s Northern Gateway proposal | Financial clout vs. the right to speak out | Canada’s pesticide laws don’t protect farm workers
Dear PAOV,
West Coast wishes you a happy lunar new year! We invite you to join us in making the year of the sheep a dynamic and effective... one for strong environmental laws in BC.
In this month’s issue, we examine the price of water: will new water pricing regulations undervalue our most precious resource? Meanwhile, First Nations resistance to the controversial Northern Gateway project continues with a new legal challenge. A new report on the Mount Polley mine tailings spill falls short of protecting communities from future disasters, while Canada’s pesticide laws do no better in protecting farm workers from health hazards on the job.
Is this glass half full, and what should it cost?
While the BC Government plans to double water prices for companies and individuals, those prices are still among the lowest in the country. Under the new pricing regime, a megacorporation like Nestlé will pay next to nothing to extract millions of litres of water from the Fraser Valley. We don't think the price is right.
- Read more in our environmental law alert, “Is this glass half full, and what should it cost?”
On Mt. Polley: To err is human; to err and not ask why is a failure by government regulators
Why was Mount Polley allowed to operate at all? In light of last year's disastrous spill, BC's mining laws need to be examined - but a new report on the 2014 spill has largely failed to ask key questions about whether a stronger regulatory framework could have prevented the incident from occurring.
- Click here to read how the new report falls short in examining the holes in the environmental legal safety net that could allow a future Mount Polley disaster.
Adding to the pile: Another legal challenge to Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal
This past January, the Gitga’at First Nation and Coastal First Nations launched a new legal challenge in relation to the Enbridge Northern Gateway project. The First Nations argue that the Province of BC has a legal duty to make its own decision about the Enbridge project, and to consult affected First Nations before doing so.
- Click here to read about how this legal challenge adds to the ever-growing list of obstacles that have stopped the Northern Gateway project from progressing.
Financial clout vs. the right to speak out
The Wilderness Committee is being sued by mining giant, Taseko, over comments it made about threats posed to Fish Lake (Teztan Biny) by a proposed mine. What does this say about the right to speak out in the public interest - a fundamental value of our democratic society? This right is threatened when well-resourced corporations sue citizens to silence public criticism directed at them.
- Dave Matthews discusses the Wilderness Committee lawsuit and the trend of lawsuits against critics of resource extraction.
Why Canada's pesticide laws don't protect farm workers
One of our staff lawyers, Andrew Gage, recently testified to a Parliamentary committee that Canada’s Pest Control Products Act does not do enough to protect farm workers from pesticide poisoning.
- Click here to hear an audio recording of Andrew’s testimony.
- Click here to read Andrew’s reflections on why farm workers continue to face significant risks from the pesticides used in agriculture.
