Chair: Stewart J. Pierce
Past Chair: Nigel J. Thompson
The big environmental news in Manitoba for this year (2012/2013) was the introduction by the Province
of the new all encompassing environment strategy which was embodied in the policy paper called
Tomorrow Now Manitoba’s Green Plan. In order to consider this Policy document, we asked the
Minister of Conservation to come and speak to the environmental law section in October. The meeting
was well attended and a good discussion took place around the theme of how Manitoba could be a
leader in the new “Green Economy”. One of the outcomes of the Policy Paper was the introduction in
the fall of a draft bill to move the government forward in its sustainable development practices. The
new Act is called The Green Prosperity Act and it was circulated amongst members of the section for
input. A second educational session was held in late February at which time John Stefaniuk reported on
Recent Changes to Federal Environmental Protection Legislation. The changes are wide ranging and John
took members through the federal legislative labyrinth to get to the bottom line. In June 2013, the
annual CBA NEERLS educational conference and business meeting will be held in Yellowknife with the
theme topic being Natural Resources and Energy Legal Developments: North and South of 60. The focus
will be on the legal regimes and challenges associated with resource extraction projects such as mining
and oil and gas projects.