Lesson 1: Jurisdiction over the Environment
Completion requirements
Environmental Law
Section 2: Legislation that Protects the Environment
Imagine driving along the Kananaskis Highway, hiking
into Waterton Lakes National Park, walking through the rain forest on
Vancouver Island, or fishing in Chain Lakes, Alberta. The sights you see
on your journey are breathtaking, the landscapes are spectacular, and
the forests are plentiful. Have you ever wondered who controls the water
you drink, the air you breathe, and the panorama you see in the
Canadian wilderness.
The federal, provincial, and municipal governments in Canada are very much aware of today's environmental problems and concerns. In this section, you'll learn why these governments have enacted laws to preserve our environment, what factors they must take into account when creating laws, and how the laws work to preserve the natural world that supports all life. When you've finished the section, you should be able to identify major environmental legislation, describe the roles of public reviews and projects likely to affect the environment, and explain a number of international environmental concerns.
The federal, provincial, and municipal governments in Canada are very much aware of today's environmental problems and concerns. In this section, you'll learn why these governments have enacted laws to preserve our environment, what factors they must take into account when creating laws, and how the laws work to preserve the natural world that supports all life. When you've finished the section, you should be able to identify major environmental legislation, describe the roles of public reviews and projects likely to affect the environment, and explain a number of international environmental concerns.
Lesson 1: Jurisdiction over the Environment
If you taken an interest in issues related to the
environment, you may have followed some of them in the news. If so, it's
more than likely that you became a little confused. Both Canada's
federal government and the various provincial governments have passed
legislation
related to the environment, and it's normal for many
organizations and interest groups to get involved in the processes used
to solve environmental disputes. As a result, it's very easy to feel a
bit at sea about what exactly is going on.
The first thing to remember is that in Canada, the power to pass laws related to the environment is divided between the federal and provincial governments. To make matters slightly more muddled, municipal governments also have limited powers to make bylaws relating to local environmental matters. The result is a bit of overlap and some confusion as to what laws apply where.
When Canada was created in 1867, the British North America Act (often called the BNA Act ) divided power between the federal and provincial governments. This act, a statute passed by the British Parliament, tried to strike a balance about which level of government controlled what. Of course in 1867, no one was very much concerned with environmental problems. Certainly there were localized problems such as, factories discharging waste into streams used by farmers, but no one yet envisioned anything like oil spills or nuclear plant explosions, let alone global warming or the depletion of the ozone layer. The result is that nowhere in the BNA Act does it say which government has control over the environment, and today both levels of government have some claim to jurisdiction over environmental issues.