On September 27, 2012 the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave
to hear the appeal of Castonguay Blasting Ltd. v. Her Majesty
the Queen in Right of the Province of Ontario as represented by The
Minister of the Environment.
This is an important case relating to the interpretation of
'adverse effect' under the Environmental Protection
Act (the "EPA"). Castonguay was charged with
failing to report a discharge of a contaminant into the environment
when it failed to report to the Ministry of the Environment (the
"MOE") an errant blast of fly rock that damaged
a nearby house and car. Under the EPA, contaminants are
things that cause adverse effects, which is defined to include
property damage. Castonguay argued that since the
property damage didn't negatively affect the natural
environment, the provisions of the EPA were not engaged.
The Court of Appeal preferred the MOE's strict
statutory interpretation of the EPA, however, finding that since
the definition of
