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ARTICLE · 28 JULY 2020

What Is And Is Not Modernized In Ontario's Re-Write Of Its Environmental Assessment Act

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On July 21, 2020, Ontario passed Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020.

CanadaEnvironment
Rodney Northey
Rodney Northey
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On July 21, 2020, Ontario passed Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020. Through Schedule 6 to this Act, Ontario has made significant amendments to the Environmental Assessment Act ("EAA"). The stated purpose of the amendments is to modernize the 1975 Act. This article assesses this re-write of the EAA in three parts:    

(1) Key features of the claimed modernization;

(2) Key features of the 1975 Act now eliminated from Ontario EA; and

(3) Notable omissions from this modernization.

Overall, the amended Act fails to deliver the vision of modernization set out in this Government's 2019 discussion paper on environmental assessment ("EA"). Similarly, while the amendments have eliminated many idiosyncratic features of the 1975 Act, they have failed to modernize two of the most problematic features of the EAA- its lack of a clear purpose and foundation for Ontario EA.

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