News

Throughout 2018, Daniel Bouchard, a partner, along with Valérie Belle-Isle, Chloé Fauchon and Pier-Olivier Fradette, associates of the Public and Administrative Law group, will train members of the Corporation des officiers municipaux en bâtiment et en environnement du Québec (COMBEQ). The seminar is entitled “Milieux humides et hydriques et certificat d’autorisation : quel rôle pour les municipalités ?” and is intended primarily for environmental municipal officers, as well as other municipal workers. It deals with the practical impact of Bills 102 and 132 adopted in 2017 respecting the conservation of wetlands and bodies of water. The training will be offered to all municipalities in the province and will be delivered in 24 cities over the course of the year.

Lavery held a seminar on the impact and extent of recent amendments to the Environment Quality Act (EQA) on the work of consultants. The seminar was held on November 8 at the Lavery Conference Centre in Montréal. Environmental consultants listened to presentations by Daniel Bouchard and Chloé Fauchon, respectively a partner and a lawyer of the Public and Administrative law group, on amendments to the EQA that expanded the right to access authorization certificates granting the Minister the power to stop an activity without compensation and immunity from liability, except in cases of gross or intentional fault. They discussed these themes in light of the recent case law on the state’s liability in environment matters and offered practical suggestions to consultants on how to protect themselves given the changes.

In an article published by Éditions Yvon Blais in La Référence, Chloé Fauchon and Charlotte Fortin, lawyers of the Public and Administrative Law group, analyze and comment on the main amendments to the Environment Quality Act under the Act to amend the Environment Quality Act to modernize the environmental authorization scheme and to amend other legislative provisions, in particular to reform the governance of the Green Fund (Bill 102). Click here to consult the article (in french only).

On September 27, Karine Joizil, a partner of the Litigation and Conflict Resolution group, moderated a panel of business people during the Conference on Canadian Stewardship, held at the Sheraton Centre in Montréal. The purpose of the panel was to take an objective look at the state of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and the circular economy in Canada.

Daniel Bouchard, Managing Partner of the Québec City office and Chloé Fauchon, a lawyer of the Public and Administrative Law group, spoke at Les développements récents en droit de l’environnement, a conference on recent developments in environment law organized by the Barreau du Québec and held on June 2, 2017, at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. They reviewed the recent jurisprudence on environment law and commented on the effects and scope of Bills 102 and 132, in particular the notion of watercourse, the civil liability of the Minister of the Environment in the exercise of his duties, and the procedure for obtaining an authorization certificate in an emergency. 

Daniel Bouchard, Managing Partner of the Quebec City office, spoke at a meeting of the Réseaux Experts/Développement durable organized by the Manufacturers and Exporters of Quebec (MEQ), held on April 21 at the Agropur head office in St-Hubert. He pointed out to MEQ members the repercussions for Quebec businesses of Bill 102, An Act to amend the Environment Quality Act to modernize the environmental authorization scheme and to amend other legislative provisions, in particular to reform the governance of the Green Fund.