Canadian Institute of Resources Law

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The Canadian Institute of Resources Law (CIRL), a registered charitable organization, is a leading national centre of expertise on energy and environmental policy and law issues relating to Alberta's energy and natural resources. Since its establishment in 1979, the Institute has developed an international reputation for excellence in resources, energy and environmental law, and pursues a three-fold mandate to undertake research, education and publication activities on energy and the environment.

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 239
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    Open Access
    Alberta First Nations Consultation & Accommodation Handbook – Updated to 2016
    (Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2016-03) Laidlaw, David
    This is an Update to our Alberta First Nations Consultation & Accommodation Handbook published on March 30, 2014 as CIRL Occasional Paper #44 (Handbook). The Handbook was a critical assessment of Alberta’s approach to satisfying the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal people in Alberta under The Government of Alberta’s Policy on Consultation with First Nations on Land and Natural Resource Management, 2013 (Consultation Policy). In the Handbook we reviewed the Consultation Policy, associated legislation and draft Corporate Guidelines as they existed at March 30, 2014. In this Update, we analyze the finalized guidelines, The Government of Alberta’s Guidelines on Consultation with First Nations on Land and Natural Resource Management (July 28, 2014) (Guidelines) together with relevant developments since March 30, 2014.
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    Open Access
    The Peel Watershed Case: Implications for Aboriginal Consultation and Land Use Planning in Alberta
    (Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2017-03-31) Jaremko, Sara L.
    As in Alberta, the Government of the Yukon has been working on comprehensive land-use planning legislation. The Yukon Court of Appeal decision considered the Peel Watershed Regional Plan that covers a large underpopulated and largely undeveloped area of the Yukon, with the potential for oil and gas and hard rock mineral development, in the context of the duty of the Crown to consult with First Nations communities in the land use planning process. This publication reviews the Peel Watershed decision and its implications for land use planning and consultation with the First Nations in Alberta. The paper addresses issues that include the status of land use planning consultation as a treaty right, procedural vs. substantive breaches of the duty to consult, and the potential for unilateral Crown decision-making in both contexts. The broader “spirit” of government obligation, the “honour of the Crown,” is considered in light of the recent SCC court decision.
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    Open Access
    Species at Risk Act: A Comprehensive Inventory of Legislative Documents, 1973-2017
    (Canadian Institute of Resources Law (CIRL), 2018-03-02) Hoffman, Nadine; Canadian Institute of Resources Law
    The long and complex history of the enactment of the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) made this statute a prime target for a legislative and documentary history. The sheer volume of, and difficulty in locating, documents related to and considered in the development of SARA is vast. In a 30-year period, 18 bills relating to species protection were introduced in the House of Commons. In the past 15 years, 12 amending bills were introduced and 70 pieces of subordinate legislation were registered under SARA (largely regulations and Orders in Council). This legislative and documentary history includes all bills, amendments, and regulations, beginning with the 1973 Speech from the Throne and ending in February 2018. It also includes parliamentary papers and committee reports, related international treaties, regulatory process information, reports and backgrounders from various government departments and non-government organizations (NGO’s), and selected scholarly articles documenting the legislative process. The purpose of this legislative and documentary history is to facilitate an understanding of the legislative framework for SARA and assist with identifying primary legal documents related to endangered species research in Canada.
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    Open Access
    Reflexive legal processes for environmental bridging organizations in the Calgary Region
    (Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2016-06-17) Stewart, Judy
    n Canadian provinces, municipalities are responsible for most land use management on private lands, and are encouraged to protect provincially owned natural resources from local land use impacts. Policy and regulatory gaps exist at the regional-scale for managing municipal land use impacts on natural resources, such as air, water and ecological resources that cross multiple municipal boundaries and jurisdictions. In the Calgary Metropolitan Region in southern Alberta, three multi-stakeholder environmental bridging organizations (the Calgary Regional Partnership, the Bow River Basin Council, and Calgary Regional Airshed Zone) emerged, connecting municipal, public and private stakeholders who shared interests in land use, watershed and airshed management, respectively. These organizations co-created natural resource management plans (co-created plans) to address transboundary and interjurisdictional issues not addressed through provincial laws or municipal bylaws. Because the organizations have no legal mandate or authority, they operate alongside the provincial environmental policy and regulatory system. The Calgary Metropolitan Region provided a demonstration context for conducting transdisciplinary research, combining emerging theories of reflexive law, environmental governance, and bridging organizations. Reflexive legal theory is deliberately applied to support and legitimize the role of environmental bridging organizations in ‘bridging’ environmental policy and regulatory gaps between provincial and municipal authorities at a regional-scale.
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    Open Access
    A Critical Exploration of the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan in Alberta
    (Canadian Institute of Resources Law, 2016-03) Jaremko, Sara L.
    The Government of Alberta has in recent years been implementing comprehensive land use planning through policy and legislation. This paper will be a critical exploration of the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) under the Alberta Land and Stewardship Act. It will first bring the SSRP into a practical view by describing the South Saskatchewan region, discussing the relevant history of integrated landscape planning, provide an overview of the policy framework, and review the legal nature of the SSRP itself, including its structure and binding nature and interaction with other regulatory management. It will then discuss the SSRP’s status: its effective date being at September 1, 2014, amendments made to the final SSRP, and describe matters remaining to be completed for implementation. It will then discuss the effect the SSRP has had thus far. It will finally provide critical evaluation revisiting the controversy associated with land use planning in general, outlining the plan’s praise and criticism, in light of cumulative effects and other management objectives, refer to previous evaluation criteria, and provide analysis.