Reports & Publications

The Environmental Law Centre has made available for download their report "In Water we Trust: Engaging Albertans in Restoration and Maintenance of Environmental Flows":

Should Alberta adopt policies that allow for 3^rd party participation in instream flow protection?  Are water trust organizations a part of the answer to instream flow needs in over-allocated basins?  The Environmental Law Centre’s report In Water we Trust:  Engaging Albertans in Restoration and Maintenance of Environmental Flows seeks to answer these questions.

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The Environmental Law Centre has published its Model for Harmonized Provincial Environmental and Sustainability Assessment:

In recent years, federal environmental assessment law has undergone radical changes resulting in a reduced number and scope of federal environmental assessment.  Consequently, the provinces are positioned to take a greater role in environmental assessment as the federal government takes a step back. In light of a reduced federal role, the province to province cooperation and coordination can play a greater role. This may include expansion of regional environmental assessment and strategic environmental assessment within and across provinces.

This report builds upon the ELC's publication A Model Environmental and Sustainability Assessment Law by establishing the criteria necessary for successful province to province cooperation and coordination.  As well, this report explores the means by which a province can implement regional environmental assessment and strategic environmental assessment within their own borders and cooperatively with other provinces.  Recognizing that ecological regions and policy decisions may not respect political boundaries, moving beyond traditional project based environmental assessment and creating broader frameworks for decision-making requires province to province cooperation and coordination.

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From the CPAWS Northern Alberta Chapter website:

A new report released today by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) finds that Canada’s national parks are under serious threat from growing commercial development pressures, particularly in Banff and Jasper.

The report describes a list of recent developments that, together, threaten the natural values national parks are intended to protect. These include the recent rushed approval of a massive expansion of the Lake Louise Ski Resort in Banff, construction of the Glacier Skywalk and a proposed Maligne Lake resort development in Jasper, and a proposal to build a giant seven story statue in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, among others.

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