As recognized by the Supreme Court, environmental protection is one of the most pressing challenges of our times. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court recently declared ultra vires the majority of the most comprehensive federal impact assessment scheme developed to date. Panelists will analyze the Reference re Impact Assessment Act, and the possibility of robust environmental impact assessment policy under the current division of powers jurisprudence. Panelists will discuss the social and reconciliationbased aspects of environmental assessment that formed part of the federal scheme, and the relationship between this Reference and the GGPPA.

Panelists:
Dayna N. Scott (Osgoode Hall Law School)
Deborah Curran (University of Victoria)
Anna Johnston (West Coast Environmental Law)
Nathalie Chalifour (University of Ottawa)
Chair: Emily Kidd White (Osgoode Hall Law School)

The 27th iteration of the Constitutional Cases conference was held on Friday, April 12, 2024. Osgoode Hall Law School’s Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, recognized as the leading constitutional law conference in Canada, brings together many highly respected constitutional scholars, lawyers, students, and experts for an insightful and practical analysis of the Supreme Court’s significant constitutional judgments of the past year.