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Canada Standard
02-05-2025
- Business
- Canada Standard
Supreme Court Won't Hear Province's Appeal in Youth-Led Ontario Climate Case
Canada's top court has dismissed Ontario's request to weigh in on a major challenge to its climate plan brought by a group of young activists. The decision released on Thursday means the case will be revived with a new hearing in the lower courts, The Canadian Press reports. Lawyers at Ecojustice and Stockwoods LLP, who are backing the activists, said in a press release that they are celebrating the ruling. "By refusing to take up Ontario's appeal, the Supreme Court has confirmed the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling is the law of the land, marking a significant victory for climate litigation in Canada." "It's decision time," said lead counsel Nader Hasan. "The Ontario government is out of runway and will finally have to face the music for gutting its climate targets and putting our collective health, safety, and futures at risk." In 2019, at the height of a youth-led wave of climate activism, 12-year-old Sophia Mathur and six other young people joined together to challenge Ontario's watered-down emissions target. Lawyers for the group argued the province's 2018 decision to replace its climate target with a weaker one committed the province to dangerously high levels of planet-warming greenhouse gases. They argued the revised target jeopardized their right to life and discriminates against them as young people who will bear the brunt of future climate impacts. View our latest digests Ontario had brought the new emissions target in 2018 after scrapping the law underpinning its cap-and-trade system. It replaced the target in that law - of reducing emissions to 37 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 - with a new aim of 30 per cent below 2005 levels. The young people brought evidence to show the revised target could allow for 30 additional megatonnes of annual emissions, the equivalent emissions from about seven million cars every year from 2018 to 2030. They asked the court to direct Ontario to set a science-based target consistent with what would be necessary to meet Canada's international climate commitments. Their challenge was initially rejected by the lower court, but it was given fresh life by the Court of Appeal for Ontario last year, which sent the case back to a trial judge for a new hearing. Ontario then asked the Supreme Court of Canada to weigh in on the case, saying it raises questions of national importance about whether governments are constitutionally required to fight climate change. The top court declined to do that, so the Appeal Court's decision stands and a fresh hearing will come next. Before this case, courts had dismissed citizen-led Charter challenges of climate targets on preliminary grounds, often because they found them to be too broad or too political. Despite Ontario's attempts to have this case tossed out on similar grounds, the seven young people made history. It was the first case in Canada to consider - in a full hearing, with piles of expert evidence on the risks of global warming-whether a government's climate plan could actually violate the Charter. Legal experts have said the case could clarify whether governments in Canada have any constitutional obligation to protect Canadians from climate change. "This case is really important for basically the trajectory that Canada is headed in terms of combating climate change and whether or not, as a country, we will be able to avoid the worst, most catastrophic impacts of climate change on a time scale that is meaningful, especially for young people," climate law expert Stepan Wood previously told The Canadian Press. Wood had argued that the Supreme Court deciding not to hear the case could be seen as positive for the activists' chances. But Nathalie Chalifour, a University of Ottawa law professor, argued before the decision that if the case was punted back to the lower courts, it could still wind up back in front of the Supreme Court down the road. It could mean more time spent on the case without getting clear direction from the court, she said. "Every year that goes by, the climate emergency worsens and we shut out options, we risk passing tipping points that are irreversible on a human time scale," said Chalifour, who acted as a lawyer for an intervener, environmental group Friends of the Earth, when the case went before the Appeal Court. "The sooner we hear these matters the better," she said. - With files from Rianna Lim. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025. Source: The Energy Mix
National Post
02-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Supreme Court refuses to hear Ontario appeal of youth-led climate change lawsuit
A lawsuit by seven young people designed to win Ontario government action on climate change is expected to proceed after the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal by the province. Article content Article content Lawyers for the young plaintiffs contend the high court's refusal to take up the appeal marks 'a significant victory for climate litigation in Canada' and will force the province to answer for its greenhouse gas emissions policy. Article content 'It's decision time,' Stockwoods lawyer Nader Hasan, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said Thursday. Article content Article content 'The Ontario government is out of runway and will finally have to face the music for gutting its climate targets and putting our collective health, safety, and futures at risk.' Article content One of the applicants, Shelby Gagnon, said the case shows even small acts of courage can create change. 'Our case is a call to all generations to take action as we stand together to show that the rule of law matters, science matters, and justice matters,' she said Thursday. News that the case will proceed comes one day after Ontario Premier Doug Ford levelled harsh criticism against Ontario judges, whom he argued are too often making decisions based on ideology. Ford raised the idea of electing judges to hold them accountable for their decisions. Article content 'These judges that are bleeding hearts, I can't wait until they retire,' Ford said in reaction to an Ontario Superior Court decision to grant an injunction against his government's plan to remove some downtown Toronto bike lanes. Article content 'As a matter of fact, I'll pay them to retire earlier,' Ford said. 'I'll pay you out, for two, three, four years. Just get out of the system.' Article content Article content The climate change case began in 2019 when seven young plaintiffs filed a statement of claim, arguing that Ontario's climate policy would not protect them from the impact of climate change. Article content Article content Backed by lawyers from Ecojustice and Stockwoods LLP, the lawsuit alleged the Ontario government's decision to claw back greenhouse gas emissions targets in 2018 violated the Charter's guarantee of the rights to equality, life and security of the person. Article content In April 2023, an Ontario Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit as a 'positive rights case' – a case that established novel legal rights. Article content But in October 2024, the Court of Appeal for Ontario disagreed, and said the group's lawsuit could proceed. The appeal court said a new hearing must determine whether the government's actions on greenhouse gas emissions complied with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Article content The three-justice panel said 'it is indisputable that, as a result of climate change, the appellants and Ontarians in general are experiencing an increased risk of death and an increased risk to the security of the person.'
Ottawa Citizen
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Youth-led lawsuit on climate change wins another round in court
A lawsuit by seven young people designed to win Ontario government action on climate change is expected to proceed after the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal by the province. Article content Article content Lawyers for the young plaintiffs contend the high court's refusal to take up the appeal marks 'a significant victory for climate litigation in Canada' and will force the province to answer for its greenhouse gas emissions policy. Article content Article content 'It's decision time,' Stockwoods lawyer Nader Hasan, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said Thursday. Article content Article content 'The Ontario government is out of runway and will finally have to face the music for gutting its climate targets and putting our collective health, safety, and futures at risk.' Article content One of the applicants, Shelby Gagnon, said the case shows even small acts of courage can create change. 'Our case is a call to all generations to take action as we stand together to show that the rule of law matters, science matters, and justice matters,' she said Thursday. News that the case will proceed comes one day after Ontario Premier Doug Ford levelled harsh criticism against Ontario judges, whom he argued are too often making decisions based on ideology. Ford raised the idea of electing judges to hold them accountable for their decisions. Article content 'These judges that are bleeding hearts, I can't wait until they retire,' Ford said in reaction to an Ontario Superior Court decision to grant an injunction against his government's plan to remove some downtown Toronto bike lanes. Article content Article content 'As a matter of fact, I'll pay them to retire earlier,' Ford said. 'I'll pay you out, for two, three, four years. Just get out of the system.' Article content The climate change case began in 2019 when seven young plaintiffs filed a statement of claim, arguing that Ontario's climate policy would not protect them from the impact of climate change. Article content Backed by lawyers from Ecojustice and Stockwoods LLP, the lawsuit alleged the Ontario government's decision to claw back greenhouse gas emissions targets in 2018 violated the Charter's guarantee of the rights to equality, life and security of the person. Article content In April 2023, an Ontario Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit as a 'positive rights case' – a case that established novel legal rights.
