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ARTICLE · 09 MAY 2023

Ontario Superior Court Dismisses Climate-Related Charter Application

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On April 14, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released Mathur v. His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario, 2023 ONSC 2316, a landmark climate litigation decision.

CanadaEnvironment
Kimberly Potter
Kimberly Potter
Anastasia Reklitis
Anastasia Reklitis
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On April 14, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released Mathur v. His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario, 2023 ONSC 2316, a landmark climate litigation decision. The applicants, seven Ontarians between the ages of 15 and 27, sought declarations of constitutional invalidity in relation to Ontario's legislated greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. The court expressed sympathy for the applicants' environmental concerns but concluded that it could not, based on "the current state of the law", find violations of the Charter in the circumstances before it.

The Mathur decision is the first case in Canadian history to substantively consider the intersection of climate change and Charter rights. Although the court disposed of the Charter arguments on other grounds, the court observed that the applicants had made a "compelling" case that the circumstances of climate change could impose positive obligations on the government under the Charter.

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