Lawyers for Ontario's Environmental Commissioner to Appear before Canada's Supreme Court
(Toronto, June 11, 2001) - Gord Miller, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), announced today that lawyers for his office will make oral arguments on Wednesday, June 13, to the Supreme Court of Canada on a precedent-setting case concerning the Keele Valley Landfill. The Supreme Court granted the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario intervener status in the case on March 20, 2001, in support of the public nuisance provisions of Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR).
"We don't intend to take a position on the specifics of this case," said Commissioner Miller. "However, we want to make sure that the Supreme Court's interpretation is consistent with the legislation. The framers of the Environmental Bill of Rights believed strongly in the public's right to sue for damages because of a public nuisance causing environmental harm."
The case, John Hollick v. The City of Toronto, was launched on behalf of 30,000 residents who live near the city-owned Keele Valley Landfill. The case alleges that the dump is a public nuisance that is harming both the environment and the health of nearby residents. The ECO decided to intervene in the action after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in December 1999 that the residents' complaints were not similar enough and were spread over too many years to constitute a common cause, and that this type of public nuisance action was "fundamentally inappropriate" to be certified as a class action.
"We have serious concerns about the implications of the Ontario Court of Appeal's reasoning in its decision," said Miller. "The ECO has a direct interest in ensuring there is access to the courts in this kind of case in the future."
Section 103 of the EBR gives Ontarians the right to sue for damages for direct economic loss or personal injury because of a public nuisance causing environmental harm. The ECO intends to make oral submissions to the Supreme Court regarding the role of class actions in protecting environment, the legal threshold for bringing such class actions, and the appropriate test the Court should apply when considering Section 103 of the EBR in conjunction with the requirements of the Class Proceedings Act.
For more information, contact:
Liz Guccione
Tel: (416) 325-3371
E-mail:
Or call our toll-free public inquiry line at 1-800-701-6454.