Since its founding in 1991, Canada’s EcoJustice, formerly known as the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, has lodged many groundbreaking legal challenges over alleged violations of specific environmental or public health protections. Most of the time, the target has been the provincial or federal government. The strategy, says Devon Page, the group’s top lawyer, is to look for ways to build legal precedent for stronger protections. Recently the group also helped an environmental coalition opposed to the construction of a new $6.3 billion Northern Gateway oil pipeline build a legal case at the quasi-judicial regulatory review hearings. [See "Battle over a Canadian Oil Sands Pipeline Nears End."]
Speaking with senior writer Julie Triedman, Page noted that environmental advocates in Canada face a different set of challenges than their peers in the United States: a basic reluctance to challenge government authority and relatively new environmental protection laws. And 2012 legislation streamlining review of large energy projects and narrowing the scope of protections has just made the group’s mission a lot tougher.
