Ecojustice Summer 2013 newsletter

The protection of wild salmon isn’t a matter we take lightly. Throughout our history, Ecojustice has been a key player in efforts to conserve Pacific salmon, the iconic West Coast species that feeds and sustains individuals, communities and culture.

We believe that the best way to support British Columbia’s wild salmon populations is to protect

the rivers and oceans they call home. That conviction is what motivated our successful efforts to uncover the truth about sea-lice on fish farms and our work at the Cohen Commission.

But as Justice Bruce Cohen recently concluded in his final report for the Commission — the $26-million federal inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run in 2009 — disease continues to pose a serious risk to the health of B.C.’s wild salmon.

That’s why Ecojustice, on behalf of biologist Alexandra Morton, is headed to Federal Court to challenge an aquaculture licence issued by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

Morton alleges that earlier this year, Atlantic salmon infected with piscine reovirus (PRV) were transferred into an open-pen fish farm operated by Marine Harvest in Shelter Bay, B.C., located along the Fraser River sockeye migration route. While Marine Harvest’s aquaculture licence permitted the transfer, we believe the conditions contained in that licence — issued by DFO — are unlawful.

In our opinion, permitting the transfer of farmed Atlantic salmon carrying disease or disease agents into waters shared with wild fish is a serious abdication of DFO’s mandate to protect fish and the marine environment.

PRV is believed to cause Heart and Muscle Inflammation (HSMI), a severe disease that affects the muscles and heart of salmon. Farmed salmon with HSMI are lethargic and appear to have difficulty swimming; if wild fish contract the disease they may be weakened to the point that they are unable to swim upriver and reproduce.

The virus was first observed on Norwegian salmon farms in 1999. It is now thought to have spread to virtually all fish farms in Norway, affecting close to 100 per cent of farmed fish sampled. Scientists warn that PRV must be contained to prevent widespread infection of wild salmon populations.

We must take a proactive approach to protecting B.C.’s wild salmon. Time and time again, we’ve learned the hard way that it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to disease, fish farms and wild salmon.

Diseased fish should not be put into waters where they might infect wild, healthy fish. Period.

— Kimberly Shearon, communications coordinator

Disease & wild salmon don’t mix

summer 2013 | issue 70

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Our work isn’t always glamorous. Behind every headline we generate and lawsuit we launch are the collective efforts of Ecojustice’s hard-working and dedicated team — enabled by the generous support of people like you.

e X e C u T i V e D i r e C T O r

[email protected] | ecojustice.ca

VANCOUVER: 604.685.5618214 – 131 Water StreetVancouver, BC V6B 4M3

TORONTO: 416.368.7533Centre for Green Cities, 401 – 550 Bayview AvenueToronto, ON M4W 3x8

OTTAWA: 613.562.5800 x 3382Room 107 – 35 Copernicus Street Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5

CALGARY: 403.705.0202 900 – 1000 5th Avenue SWCalgary, AB T2P 4V1

Charitable Business Number: 13474 8474 RR0001

BOARd Of diRECTORs Cathy Wilkinson, PresidentDeborah Curran, Vice-PresidentMike Cormack, TreasurerRonald H. Pearson, Secretary

MEMBERS: Tricia Barry, Martha Butterfield, Gillian Deacon, Valerie Langer, Murray Duncan McCaig, Judge William A. Newsom, Doug Rae, Madeline Redfern, Will Roush, Stuart Rush, Q.C.; Leonard Schein, Trip Van Noppen

HONORARY DIRECTORS: Margaret Atwood, Robert Bateman, Doug Chapman, Honourable Claire L’Heureux-Dubé, Gregory J. McDade Q.C., Buck Parker, John Rich, Clayton Ruby, Dr. David Suzuki, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson

WE iNViTE your feedback about the Ecojustice newsletter. E-mail editor Kimberly Shearon at [email protected] or reach her by phone at 604.685.5618 x 242.

ECOjUsTiCE is COmmiTTEd to using environmentally responsible papers. By choosing 100 per cent post-consumer recycled fibre instead of virgin paper for this printed material, the following natural resources will be saved or reduced this year: 41 trees; 10,698 kg of wood; 131,312 litres of water; 1,668 kg of landfill; 3,236 kg of net greenhouse emissions; 47 million Btu energy.

SOURCE: UNISOURCE.CA

A word from the eD

In service of our mission — using the law to protect and restore the environment — we often run into opposition. And when it came to our involvement in review hearings for Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, it seemed that the stakes were higher than ever. But our lawyers, scientists and law students were up to the challenge.

It was a perfect storm. Between the federal government’s efforts to discredit environmental charities and the passage of sweeping, regressive changes to the laws we count on to protect the air, water and land we all share, the battle over Northern Gateway took on symbolic meaning.

The debate was no longer just about whether a pipeline should be built, but rather a dialogue about the future we envision for Canada. It ignited a serious and long-overdue conversation about two values Canadians hold dear — nature and democracy — and the actions we’re willing to take in their defence.

Review hearings wrapped up in June (see next page) and though we won’t know the final outcome for a few more months, we can reflect on the successes we’ve witnessed along the way:

• Canadians fighting back last spring when the federal government gutted envi-ronmental laws, essentially prioritizing industry over people;

• Community leaders standing up across the country to speak to the need to better balance industrial development

and the protection of Canada’s amazing natural legacy;

• The B.C. provincial government officially rejecting the pipeline and aligning many of its final arguments with those raised by Ecojustice lawyers.

Because of changes made to environ-mental laws last year, the federal Cabinet has final say over whether the project can proceed. While we await that decision, we’re taking the lessons we’ve learned during the past year and applying them to new, exciting work, such as the wild salmon protection case featured on the cover of this newsletter.

With you beside us, we can do the behind-the-scenes strategic legal and scientific work that wins cases and builds our credibility as the go-to organization on the issues that matter the most. Thank you.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Putting an end to legal bullying

A proposed law could protect Ontarians fighting to defend their environment from expensive legal costs and stress.

Bill 83 was introduced in the Ontario Leg-islature in June. The law is intended to thwart Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), which are used to muzzle and bully Canadians who oppose developments that may affect their health and well-being. Anyone who reports an environmental violation, files a complaint with a government agency or engages in a public campaign is a possible victim. That sounds like a lot of the people we serve.

Often, the cases are weak. But the threat of onerous and expensive legal proceedings is what makes a SLAPP so effective. When given the choice of defending oneself in court or avoiding

a multi-million dollar lawsuit, people generally stop speaking out. That sets a dangerous precedent, one that we’ve been trying to fix by issuing reports and lobbying government.

The proposed law would make it easier for SLAPP targets to have the case dismissed and allow a judge to award damages against the person bringing the lawsuit.

Ecojustice has worked dili-gently with the Canadian Environ-mental Law Association, among others, to bring this bill forward. But there’s more work to come.

When the Ontario government returns this fall, we hope that all parties will work together to pass a strong law that keeps public participation alive in Ontario. And we’ll be there to urge them along.

— Hugh Wilkins, staff lawyer

NORTHERN GATEWAY PIPELINE

Establishing common groundWe’re feeling optimistic. And it’s not just because the British Columbia provincial government has officially come out in opposition to Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline — though that is certainly an encouraging sign.

It’s because as review hearings on the controversial project came to a close in June, we heard a lot more about the values we share than the differences that, at other times, threaten to divide us.

Ecojustice lawyers made final arguments against the proposed pipeline on behalf of our clients, ForestEthics Advocacy, Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Conservation. Among our concerns are the inadequacy of oil spill response plans and the pipeline’s potential impacts on endangered wildlife.

We’re not the only ones who have serious reservations about the project. Canadians from across the country have stood up against the pipeline and everything that comes with it — more oilsands production, more destruction of the habitat endangered wildlife need to survive and recover, and more risky tanker traffic through the unpredictable waters off B.C.’s north coast.

While it’s far too early to predict how the provincial government’s rejection of the pipeline will ultimately play out, we’re happy to see that its position on Northern Gateway is now consistent with that of the majority of B.C. residents.

When it comes to issues as divisive as the Northern Gateway pipeline and the future of Canada’s energy strategy, finding com-mon ground between groups that don’t always agree is always a small victory.

— Kimberly Shearon, communications coordinator

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THE DEAL:The government’s deal with

Nestlé will allow the company to siphon more than 1.1 million litres of water per day from an aquifer near the community of Hillsburgh, Ont. The aquifer sustains the local community, but climate change-induced droughts, population increases, and other consumptive uses are stressing the local water supply.

OUR ROLE:We’re helping Wellington Water

Watchers and the Council of Cana-dians defend a community’s water supply from harm. In February, we helped both groups get access to the decision-making process at Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal. But it wasn’t easy.

The Ontario government and Nestlé told the Tribunal that our cli-ents shouldn’t be able to scrutinize the deal. The Tribunal disagreed and sided with our clients. Next, we examined the deal between Nestlé and Ontario and submitted written arguments to the Tribunal.

Certain natural resources, such as water, belong to all Canadians and cannot be privately owned or controlled. Restricting the amount of water Nestlé can pump during drought conditions would show that the provincial government respects its role as a trustee of our common resources by protecting them for the benefit of current and future genera-tions. Now we wait to see whether the Tribunal will accept or reject Nestlé’s deal with the government.

— Pierre Hamilton,

communications associate

PROT ECT A COmmUNiTY’sYOU’RE HELPiNG Us

THE LINK BETWEEN

WATER sUPPLYWater is a common resource shared by all. But a community’s need for clean water should come before a bottled water company’s profits. In southern Ontario, the provincial government has decided not to restrict the amount Nestlé Waters Canada could pump during a drought. That’s a poor way to safeguard a precious resource that’s crucial to the survival of current and future generations.

Water belongs to you and me, not corporations. Because it’s a public resource, governments must manage our water to sustain Canadian com-munities. But often, they don’t.

Something’s wrong when the On-tario government won’t force Nestlé to take less water from a community aquifer during drought conditions. In this case, Ontario is dodging its duty to protect our environment.

One solution is our campaign to have all levels of government recognize your right to a healthy environment. Legal recognition of that right will improve air, land and water quality by strengthening environmental protections. Those

protections hold governments accountable to every Canadian.

The Nestlé case shows why our common resources need more protection. We live in an era of increasing pressures on freshwater resources. These pressures include population demands, industry demands, and climate change.

Every government decision must prevent those pressures from harming our common natural resources and keeping those resources healthy. That’s what we’re asking for in this case.

We believe that your right to water should take priority over

WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

private, commercial uses. Reducing the amount of water Nestlé can take during a drought would protect the local community’s access to clean and safe water no matter what. Achieving this priority would be easier in a Canada where everyone has the right to a healthy environment.

Environmental rights protect you by dissuading governments from making decisions without consider-ing the long-term needs of the local community and environment. Let’s not squander our freshwater resources to benefit corporations if a community could suffer.

— Will Amos, Director of the Ecojustice

Clinic at the University of Ottawa

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THE DEAL:The government’s deal with

Nestlé will allow the company to siphon more than 1.1 million litres of water per day from an aquifer near the community of Hillsburgh, Ont. The aquifer sustains the local community, but climate change-induced droughts, population increases, and other consumptive uses are stressing the local water supply.

OUR ROLE:We’re helping Wellington Water

Watchers and the Council of Cana-dians defend a community’s water supply from harm. In February, we helped both groups get access to the decision-making process at Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal. But it wasn’t easy.

The Ontario government and Nestlé told the Tribunal that our cli-ents shouldn’t be able to scrutinize the deal. The Tribunal disagreed and sided with our clients. Next, we examined the deal between Nestlé and Ontario and submitted written arguments to the Tribunal.

Certain natural resources, such as water, belong to all Canadians and cannot be privately owned or controlled. Restricting the amount of water Nestlé can pump during drought conditions would show that the provincial government respects its role as a trustee of our common resources by protecting them for the benefit of current and future genera-tions. Now we wait to see whether the Tribunal will accept or reject Nestlé’s deal with the government.

— Pierre Hamilton,

communications associate

PROT ECT A COmmUNiTY’sYOU’RE HELPiNG Us

THE LINK BETWEEN

WATER sUPPLYWater is a common resource shared by all. But a community’s need for clean water should come before a bottled water company’s profits. In southern Ontario, the provincial government has decided not to restrict the amount Nestlé Waters Canada could pump during a drought. That’s a poor way to safeguard a precious resource that’s crucial to the survival of current and future generations.

Water belongs to you and me, not corporations. Because it’s a public resource, governments must manage our water to sustain Canadian com-munities. But often, they don’t.

Something’s wrong when the On-tario government won’t force Nestlé to take less water from a community aquifer during drought conditions. In this case, Ontario is dodging its duty to protect our environment.

One solution is our campaign to have all levels of government recognize your right to a healthy environment. Legal recognition of that right will improve air, land and water quality by strengthening environmental protections. Those

protections hold governments accountable to every Canadian.

The Nestlé case shows why our common resources need more protection. We live in an era of increasing pressures on freshwater resources. These pressures include population demands, industry demands, and climate change.

Every government decision must prevent those pressures from harming our common natural resources and keeping those resources healthy. That’s what we’re asking for in this case.

We believe that your right to water should take priority over

WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

private, commercial uses. Reducing the amount of water Nestlé can take during a drought would protect the local community’s access to clean and safe water no matter what. Achieving this priority would be easier in a Canada where everyone has the right to a healthy environment.

Environmental rights protect you by dissuading governments from making decisions without consider-ing the long-term needs of the local community and environment. Let’s not squander our freshwater resources to benefit corporations if a community could suffer.

— Will Amos, Director of the Ecojustice

Clinic at the University of Ottawa

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staff profile

elaine macDonaldOne Friday afternoon in January, community members in Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, Ont., started feeling sick.

I learned about the incident from Ada Lockridge, a client. She told me that

local residents, including children at a day-care centre, reported dizziness, skin rashes and other symptoms after Shell Canada’s petrochemical refinery leaked sulphur chemicals into the air.

Emergency sirens — used to warn residents when chemical leaks occur — failed, making a bad situation worse. This happens too often in Sarnia’s “Chemical Valley,” an air pollution hot spot surrounded by many refineries and chemical plants.

These environmental injustices are what I use my science and engineering skills to address. I work with our lawyers to reduce the use and release of toxic substances.

Each and every day you’re exposed to substances that may harm your health. Some you encounter in your food or in the products you use — others you inhale with each breath. The government regulates the use and release of harmful substances to protect human health and the environment, but their oversight is weak and

slow to react. That’s where Ecojustice, with your help, makes a difference. Together, we hold the government accountable.

When the government failed to meaningfully address the leaks at Shell Canada’s refinery, we intervened. We asked the Ministry of the Environment to investigate under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights. We’re helping Sarnia residents apply pressure on government so the government forces industry to act responsibly.

In May, the American Industrial Hygiene Association rewarded our efforts to “advance the public’s aware-ness of environmental safety and health issues” with the 2013 Rachel Carson Award. I travelled to Montreal to accept the award and gave a speech about our important work to reduce every Canadian’s exposure to harmful substances. I’m proud of the work Ecojustice does — especially when we help communities that face enormous injustices.

I’ve been fighting those injustices since I joined Ecojustice in 1999. I offered to volunteer while finish-ing my PhD in environmental engineering. Instead, they offered me a job and I haven’t looked back since. After all, when I think of those children at that day-care centre in Sarnia and my own children, I realize there is so much more to do.

— Dr. Elaine MacDonald, senior staff scientist

WHALES

efforts to protect whales don’t stop at the borderWhile animals that live on land often rely on their sense of sight for survival, whales depend almost entirely on their ability to hear.

“Quieting” the increasingly noisy ocean environ-ment is important in helping at-risk whale popula-tions, like the southern resident killer whales, survive and recover. And thanks to an Ecojustice court win, all aspects of the killer whales’ critical habitat — including acoustic quality — are now protected by Canadian law.

Now we’re taking our efforts to the international stage in a U.S. District Court case about military testing and ocean noise.

Later this year, that Court will consider a lawsuit over the U.S. Navy’s plans to conduct training exer-cises, including sonar testing, in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Environmental assessments conducted by

the U.S. government have made it clear that the Navy’s training exercises will harass five transboundary whale populations, including the southern residents, which spend part of the year in American waters.

We’ll be helping a group of our long-time clients — Georgia Strait Alliance, Wilderness Committee, David Suzuki Foundation and Raincoast Conservation, who will appear as amicus curiae or friend

of the court — share information about how military testing could hurt the whales and undermine Canadian efforts to protect their critical habitat.

We’ll explain how noise pollution can stress, injure and in some cases, kill whales. Chronic noise can degrade the whales’ critical habitat, damaging their hearing and compromising their ability to hunt and communicate — a whale that loses the ability to hear will inevitably die of that injury.

— Kimberly Shearon, communications coordinator

ENDANGERED WILDLIFE

We want to hear from you! Sometimes we’re asked whether the lawsuits we launch are effective. Now, backed up by a new research paper, co-authored by Ecojustice senior staff scientist Susan Pinkus, we’re happy to report that yes, our lawsuits make a big difference — especially for Canada’s endangered wildlife.

Citing landmark Ecojustice victories like our work to protect resident killer whale populations and the Nooksack dace, the paper concludes that: “A 50% increase in recovery strategies that identified critical habitat following precedent-setting court judgments suggests that legal action by nongovernmental organizations played a key role in the evolution of recovery policy for species at risk in Canada.”

Meanwhile, Ecojustice lawyers and scientists are forging ahead with continued efforts to protect Canada’s endangered wildlife:

• We’re standing up for an iconic prairie bird, the Greater sage-grouse. Without immediate action these birds — best known for their spectacu-lar mating dance — could be extinct in Canada in less than 10 years.

• We’re also challenging the federal government’s unlawful delays in producing recovery strategies for four species (Pacific humpback whale, Nechako White Sturgeon, Marbled Murrelet and Southern

Mountain Caribou), whose habitat would be adversely affected by En-bridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

• We’ve bolstered our presence in Ottawa to pressure the federal government to save the Species at Risk Act, one of the last effective environmental laws left standing after last year’s devastating omnibus budget bills.

We’ll be keeping you updated about these cases and more in the coming months.

— Kimberly Shearon,

communications coordinator

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Interested in a

for your donation?

When you donate appreciated public securities to Ecojustice, you avoid the capital gains and you receive a charitable gift receipt for the full value of your gift.

Here’s how it works:

In this example, the securities cost $2,000 and their current fair market value is $10,000. This chart shows the additional tax savings by donating the securities directly to Ecojustice:

DONOR SELLS SECURITIES AND DONATES CASH

DONOR DONATES SECURITIES

Fair market value $10,000 $10,000

Adjusted cost base ($2,000) ($2,000)

Capital gain $8,000 $8,000

Income inclusion for capital gain

($4,000) -

Charitable tax receipt $10,000 $10,000

Net receipt (after o setting capital gain inclusion)

$6,000 $10,000

Tax savings at 45% $2,700 $4,500

Increased tax savings from donating securities directly

$1,800

Out of pocket cost of a $10,000 donation

$7,300 $5,500

How do I make a gift of securities?

Simply visit ecojustice.ca/securities_gift to print the form you’ll need. Then, sign it and fax it to your investment advisor and to Ecojustice Advisor, Frank Arnold of The Pinch Group at Raymond James. Mr. Arnold has generously waived all fees on processing gifts of securities donated to Ecojustice and all fees on investing our funds.

Dr. Jordan Golubov is a gastroenterologist (originally from

the mid-1970s when he learned of Greenpeace and its anti-whaling campaign. This made him aware of the fragility and vulnerability of the planet’s natural systems and biodiversity.

His lifelong passion for environmental protection is evident. He is a member of Community Renewable Energy Waterloo,

Waterloo’s citizens’ environmental advisory committee. He tries to live a sustainable lifestyle, minimizing consumption, and cycling to his work when weather permits.

Because his professional and family demands have limited his ability to be more directly involved in environmental work, he chooses to donate to environmental charities that have the expertise to effect positive change.

strong environmental legislation and upholding it is one of the cornerstones of environmental protection. And in the wake of recent federal rollbacks to Canada’s environmental laws, he says the importance of groups like Ecojustice is more apparent than ever.

“Ecojustice is an environmental organization with the unique resources and skills necessary to advocate for and defend environmental legislation.”

“I have chosen to donate shares in companies involved in oil sands extraction due to my ethical objection to the toll this process is taking on climate, water and land and how it has driven federal dismantling of environmental legislation,”he says.

Ecojustice sells the shares immediately upon receiving them and then uses the proceeds to support its work.

— Sandra Gamboias, philanthropy manager

For more information on this and other ways of giving, please contact Janice Loomer Margolis, LL.B., Director of Philanthropy at [email protected] or 1.800.926.7744 ext. 224.

Supporters like you

For Dr. Golubov, donating securities is a simple and quick process as well — the single page that needs to be filled out to execute the transaction is available at: ecojustice.ca/securities_gift