Empowering communities, protecting ecosystems
Empowering communities, protecting ecosystems
Over the past year, ELC staff and students have continued to work extensively to develop strategies to deal with plastics pollution. Our contributions have started to generate action at the political level, including a commitment this summer from the federal…
In the last year, our work in documenting the lack of enforcement of drinking water contamination led to province-wide improvements to control agricultural waste. This result means better drinking water protections for the entire province. It started in 2016 when…
This year, the ELC joined with project partners, organizations, and community groups throughout the province to officially launch a comprehensive mining law reform platform, which consists of nine reports that target specific mining law reform opportunities in BC. Although mining…
Many Canadians are concerned about plastics pollution, and governments at all levels are seeking ways to take meaningful action. Continuing our work on finding solutions to plastics pollution problems, the ELC recently helped clients Kids for a Plastic Free Canada…
Old growth forests are valuable to BC’s ecological and economic health and vital in the fight against climate change. However, standards to protect these important resources vary across the province and, in many areas, are inadequate. On behalf of Sierra…
With contributions from Emily Benoit, ELC Clinic (Fall 2018), Coop student (Spring 2019) Current rules for managing private forest land in BC fail to protect the province’s streams, fish, wildlife and other natural values. If not managed responsibly, logging activities…
Much of the infrastructure that deals with stormwater in the Capital Regional District (CRD) is in urgent need of upgrading, a problem that was highlighted in 2017 when Victoria’s annual Gorge Swimfest was cancelled caused by cross contamination of sewer…
The ELC has developed a comprehensive overview that identifies how Canada provides billions of dollars in subsidies each year to the fossil fuel industry. “Despite Canada having committed to the Paris Agreement, it is still subsidizing the fossil fuel industry…
Climate change threats are spurring a global movement for communities to shift away from using fossil fuels. Local governments are committing to a 100% renewable energy by 2050 target as one way to comprehensively make that shift. An ELC report…
Although mining has significant and ongoing impacts on communities, it is the only resource industry in BC that has not had a comprehensive legal review from a public interest perspective. The ELC has long worked on mining law reform projects,…
Thanks to the ELC, BC has improved information and privacy law regarding the government’s obligations to release information to the public. In one of her last acts before leaving office, Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham responded in late June…
