Course or Seminar Category: Environmental Law and Natural Resources

Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law

This course will provide a critical survey of state law as it relates to Indigenous peoples in Canada. The focus will be on the following topics: the historical context and constitutional framework; Aboriginal rights and title; self-government; treaties and treaty rights; and introduction to the Indian Act; and the authority and obligations of the federal and provincial governments.

This course fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.

Land Use Planning

This course will provide an overview of the law of land use planning and development law regime in Ontario, with an emphasis on the processes, approvals, negotiations and contractual arrangements involved in the development of land, with reference to the Planning Act.

Topics will include the provincial and municipal roles in land use planning and a close examination of the various land use planning instruments and processes, including official plans, zoning by-laws, draft plans of subdivision/consents to sever, site plan approval, building permits, etc. The course will also examine indirect land use controls such as development agreements, development charges and other fees, charges and levies. Students will be introduced to legislation that regulates the heritage protection of built form, and building and construction.

The role of the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) will be discussed, as well as local appeal bodies. Emphasis will be placed on the significant role that local government has with respect to land use planning. The course will accordingly combine aspects of municipal law with an understanding of the land development process.

Overall, the course will provide students with an understanding of the powers and rights available to citizens, stakeholders, landowners, governments, non-governmental organizations, and public sector agencies in shaping land use planning in Ontario.

As learning objectives, students should, by the end of the course:
• demonstrate a high degree of knowledge of the main principles and rules applicable to the land use planning regime in Ontario, with a particular focus on the Planning Act and related case law, and be able to apply these principles and rules to various fact situations in a relevant, precise and well-structured way;
• have an appreciation of other important Ontario statutes that impact the land use planning and development regime in Ontario, and be able to apply relevant portions of these statutes;
• be familiar with the basic functions and powers of municipalities in Ontario;
• understand the general role and the administrative procedures of the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and the matters that it adjudicates;
• develop a critical perspective on the land use planning regime in Ontario, and be able to explain how certain policy objectives may be fulfilled or, alternatively, frustrated by aspects of the regime; and
• be able to critically evaluate and analyze formal decisions related to land use planning made by municipalities, the Province, the OLT and other approval authorities.

Environmental Law

This course is an introduction to the law of environmental protection in Canada. Major issues and contemporary developments in environmental law are brought to life via guest lectures, short films, news stories and scenarios drawn from real-world environmental controversies. Some of these scenarios are taken up via optional student moot courts and client briefings. Topics typically include common law environmental litigation (eg toxic torts, class actions, SLAPP suits); jurisdiction to regulate (eg federal division of powers, local government powers, inherent Indigenous jurisdiction); air and water pollution control; public participation and environmental rights; compliance and enforcement; judicial review of environmental decision-making (eg standard of review, public interest standing); economic policy instruments (eg carbon taxes); federal toxics regulation; environmental/impact assessment; endangered species protection; and parks and protected areas (eg IPCAs). Throughout the course, we use cross-cutting issues like the climate crisis and environmental racism to understand complex legal and policy problems, and we explore the emerging debates around “rights of nature”.

The course is evaluated by a mid-term assignment, class participation, and final exam. For the mid-term  assignment, students work in groups to do an in-class moot court, present an in-class client briefing, or submit a public comment to a government agency on a real-life proposed environmental act, policy, or regulation that is posted for comment on the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights registry or the federal environmental registry.  
 
The course is integrated with the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change graduate course ENVS 6164 and typically includes students from the MES program, whose presence greatly enriches the learning experience.

Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law

The principal aim of this section of the course is to develop critical understanding of those parts of Canadian constitutional law that pertain specifically to Indigenous peoples. Topics will include the notions of sovereignty and self-determination, relevant British imperial law, the honour of the Crown and the enforceable Crown obligations to which it gives rise, federal and provincial legislative authority, section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, Aboriginal rights and title, treaties and treaty rights, and Indigenous self-government (statutory and constitutional). The plan is for one class session, late in the term, to feature Toronto lawyers who represent or advise Indigenous clients, discussing practice-related issues.

The course will also acknowledge the reality, the coherence and the efficacy of Indigenous law. Early in the term, an Indigenous law scholar will spend one class session introducing the students to an Indigenous legal order. But Indigenous law will figure somewhat less prominently in this section of the course than it does in some other sections, because the instructor, who is not Indigenous, has neither authority nor permission to pronounce on matters internal to any Indigenous legal order. Students whose primary interest is in Indigenous law may prefer another section of this course, or may wish to supplement this course with a companion course whose specific focus is Indigenous law.

This course satisfies the prerequisite requirement for the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governments. It may also be useful background for advanced seminars about Indigenous Peoples and the Law.

Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law

This substantive law course explores the relationships between Indigenous legal orders, the common law and Canadian law, in the context of the practical complexities involved in litigating Aboriginal and Treaty rights cases. Topics may include, but are not limited to: Indigenous laws and governance systems; intersocietal law; history of treaties and treaty relationships; pre-existing Indigenous sovereignty and assumed Crown sovereignty; the honour of the Crown; the colonial doctrines of discovery and terra nullius; settler-colonialism and Indigenous resurgence. The course will provide a survey of key procedural and substantive elements (eg. pleadings,
expert witnesses, Elder evidence, argument and remedies) from the perspective of a practioner working exclusively in this area of law on behalf of First Nation clients and communities. This course consists of weekly lectures and in-class discussions. Evaluation encompasses: in-class quizzes, weekly reading assignments, participation, and a group advocacy component. This course also fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.

Animals and the Law

This course analyzes the legal treatment of nonhuman animals, interrogating the limits of
the prevailing property concept that treats them as objects when they are also sentient
subjects with some legal rights. Topics explored include emerging alternatives to the
persons vs property debate; federal anti-cruelty protections and provincial welfare
legislation in Canada; and Indigenous laws and perspectives on nonhuman animals.