Latest news with #environmentalProtection
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Ontario NDP, Liberals successfully stall Bill 5 after filibustering until midnight Thursday
Social Sharing Bill 5 was successfully stalled in committee after Ontario NDP and Liberal MPPs filibustered from around 4 p.m. on Wednesday until midnight Thursday. The filibuster has blocked the controversial bill from going into its third and final reading, as the committee process will now continue into next week, Ontario NDP said in a statement on X just after midnight on Thursday. The MPPs "used every committee tool to delay progress [on] Ford's attempt to rush through this legislation without proper consultation," the statement said. Leader of the Offical Opposition Marit Stiles participated in the filibuster. She addressed Ontario Premier Doug Ford directly in a post on X around 12:20 a.m. Thursday. "Your government now has the time and opportunity to do the right thing: Scrap Bill 5. Let's go back to the drawing board, and do this right," the post read. Speaking at Queen's Park on Wednesday evening, Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa said the MPPs would debate the 40 clauses in the amendment, line-by-line, during the filibuster. "We cannot stop the bill, but we can certainly slow down the processes that are there," Mamakwa said. Monday is the earliest the committee process can continue, Liberal MPP Ted Hsu said in a video on X around 1 a.m. Thursday. Kill the bill and start over, First Nations leaders say The controversial Bill 5 has been criticized by First Nations, environmentalists and legal advocates, who have said the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights. Bill 5, which will likely pass next week, would create so-called "special economic zones" where the government can exempt companies or projects from complying with provincial laws or regulations. WATCH | Ontario First Nations leaders say communities will take a stand if bill passes: First Nation leaders tell Ford government to kill Bill 5 3 days ago Duration 2:14 Critics of Doug Ford's Bill 5 say the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights. As CBC's Mike Crawley reports, Ontario First Nations leaders are now warning of 'conflict on the ground' if it passes. The Ford government put forward amendments to the bill on Wednesday in response to criticism, including that the government will also create "Indigenous led economic zones." But opposition leaders say the government hasn't defined what this means. The government also introduced what are known as duty to consult provisions. "Regulations under this Act shall be made in a manner consistent with the recognition and affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, including the duty to consult," the proposed amendment reads, according to an email from the premier's office Wednesday. But First Nations leaders in Ontario say the government already failed in its duty to consult. They want the province to start over and involve First Nations in drafting a new bill.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Company directors who cause nature damage in Scotland could face jail
Company directors who cause severe or reckless damage to nature could face jail terms or hefty fines under a bill that aims to criminalise environmental destruction in Scotland. The proposed law, which would be the first of its kind in the UK, is designed to put a class of environment offences known as ecocide on a similar legal footing to other grave crimes such as murder. Monica Lennon, the Scottish Labour MSP who has tabled the ecocide (Scotland) bill in the Scottish parliament, said it would introduce strict new legal duties on company executives and government agencies, with potential sanctions such as heavy fines or prison sentences. She said it would bring Scotland into line with the EU, which has an environmental crime directive, and formal moves by small nations such as Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji to add ecocide to the mandate for the international criminal court. Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru and Italy are also pursuing domestic ecocide laws, which are broadly defined as 'unlawful or wanton acts' committed knowing they could cause severe, widespread or long-term environmental damage. Activists point to oil tanker disasters; deforestation of the Amazon or destructive fishing practices, as examples of ecocide. Lennon said voters were very clear they believed serious environmental crimes needed to be policed and punished. 'I think the bill will give people hope,' she said. 'I think it's really important to renew hope and put environmental protection at the top of the agenda. 'This should give confidence to policymakers, and ensure the public knows we're making sure our laws are fit for purpose, and closing gaps and loopholes. We just don't talk about the nature emergency: we have a robust legal framework too.' More than 50 MSPs from all the major parties in the Scottish parliament, including the Conservatives, have supported Lennon's decision to table the bill, which will soon go to an initial vote to confirm it can progress. Environmental campaigners are critical of the Scottish government's recent track record on the climate and nature conservation, with promised legislation watered down and spending cut. Even so, ministers in Edinburgh support Lennon's bill in principle. Maurice Golden, a Scottish Tory MSP who backs the legislation, said the mere fact of its implementation would force companies and public agencies to be far more rigorous on environmental issues to avoid breaching it. 'The context of this is an international one. We don't want Scotland being seen as a soft touch,' he said. 'What we will see, as a result of this law, is that in order to reduce the risks of malpractice, companies are going to up their game.'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
UK fund for nature-friendly farming to be slashed in spending review
The nature-friendly farming budget is set to be slashed in the UK spending review, with only small farms allowed to apply, it can be revealed. Sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed the post-Brexit farming fund will be severely cut in the review on 11 June. It will be part of a swathe of cuts to departments, with police, social housing and nature funding expected to face the brunt. Labour promised a fund of £5bn over two years, from 2024 to 2026, at the budget, which is being honoured, but in the years following that it will be slashed for all but a few farms. The nature-friendly farming fund is a package of payments that replaced the EU's common agricultural policy and paid land managers for the amount of land in their care, with the aim of paying farmers to look after nature, soil and other public goods, rather than simply for farming and owning land. Many farms rely on these payments to make ends meet. Defra is understood to be focusing the money on areas that it has mapped out as having the best potential for nature, such as the uplands, and paying farmers not to cultivate on peat soil. Defra sources said the scheme will be targeted at 'small farms'; wealthier farmers will not be eligible, meaning larger farms will be locked out of nature-friendly farming incentives. Environmental groups fear that along with the planning and infrastructure bill, which removes nature protections from areas that were previously protected under the EU, nature will decline. In Europe, the common agricultural policy is being overhauled to include some payments for nature. Now it is feared British farms will have to intensify production to make ends meet as the post-Brexit subsidies are stopped completely for some landowners. It is understood ministers will argue farming profitability will be boosted during this period, and that the new nature restoration fund created by the planning and infrastructure bill will provide private investment for nature-friendly farming. Biodiversity net gain rules for developers are also expected to be watered down after the Ministry of Housing and Local Government launched a review into the efficacy of developers creating space for nature when they build houses. Under the plans, development sites as large as 49 houses could benefit from simplified rules. At the moment, developers have to provide a 10% uplift for nature on the sites they build on. Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said of the nature restoration fund being used to fund farmers instead of government money: 'I think it's dangerous to mix up those pots, we need decent funding for farmers to do nature recovery and you need decent funding for nature recovery in the wider countryside. If we start merging those together I don't see how we are going to make any progress on our domestic and international targets. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'There are a lot of people very nervous about what's going on –there are obviously massive concerns about the planning bill, which is slashing protections for otters, dolphins and so many treasured species. There's concern about cuts to funding for nature friendly farming, there are rumours about the government pulling back on ambition from [biodiversity regulations for housebuilders] which would pull the rug from under the feet of private investors who are funding nature recovery. 'All this together will be pretty devastating, and very hard to see how we will deliver on Labour's general election promises to deliver nature recovery.' Defra declined to comment.
CTV News
6 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Invasive fish captured in N.S. is first of such species found in Atlantic Canada
Fisheries and Oceans Canada says an invasive type of fish called a pond loach, seen in this handout image, has been found in Nova Scotia, marking the first such finding in Atlantic Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Fisheries and Oceans Canada NEW GERMANY — Fisheries and Oceans Canada says an invasive type of fish called a pond loach has been found in Nova Scotia, marking the first such finding in Atlantic Canada. A single, egg-bearing, female Oriental Weatherfish, or pond loach, was found in Morgans Falls, near New Germany, N.S., the federal department said in an emailed statement Monday. Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the fish species is native to eastern Asia, and that the one captured on April 29 was likely introduced to Nova Scotia after being released from an aquarium. Invasive species, such as the pond loach, are a problem because of the disruption they can cause to habitats and ecosystems. Pond loach can reproduce quickly, and once the fish is established in a new habitat, it may compete with native species for food, or prey on them directly. Releasing any aquatic species into a body of water where it is not native, unless authorized by federal, provincial or territorial law, is illegal under the federal Aquatic Invasive Species Regulations. 'To help prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species, do not let loose any aquatic species into a new body of water, down the drain, or into the sewers,' reads the statement from Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The pond loach is brown or dark green with dark scattered speckles and a light-coloured underside. It has a long, cylindrical, eel-like body, that can measure between 10 and 25 centimetres in length. The fish also has between six and eight barbels, or whiskers, around its mouth. The fish prefer slow-moving, muddy or silty habitats, but the can survive in a range of environmental conditions. The pond loach has also been reported in southern British Columbia, the federal department said, but is not known to occur anywhere else in Canada. The DFO said it has not received any other reports of this species in Nova Scotia, and there are no loach species that are native to the province. If anyone suspects they have seen a pond loach, the DFO is asking them to report it, with pictures, if possible, to its aquatic invasive species division. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025. The Canadian Press
CBC
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
First Nation leaders tell Ford government to kill Bill 5
Critics of Doug Ford's Bill 5 say the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights. As CBC's Mike Crawley reports, Ontario First Nations leaders are now warning of 'conflict on the ground' if it passes.
