Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 9 Péloffy says she was "very pleased" when she heard about the Environne- ment Jeunesse suit. "I'll be even happier if and when it is successful," she says. For his part, Lespérance, whose firm has worked pro bono on many high-pro- file class actions in the public interest since the 1990s, including a successful effort to stop a TransCanada terminal project that threatened beluga whales, actions to protect frogs and caribou and an ongoing, 20-year-old class action against the tobacco industry on behalf of Quebec cancer victims that resulted in a favourable $15-billion judgment in 2016 that is still under review, says he is confident that the courts will hold Ottawa accountable for its failure to uphold its Charter obligations to protect Canadians from the effects of global warming. "There are three issues at play here: that the government has the power to do something to deal with an urgent situation; that it has the duty and responsibility to do something; and that it is violating both of those things," says Lespérance. He says many senior Canadian polit- icians have publicly acknowledged this. Paragraph 2.73 of the Environnement Jeunesse motion, for example, cites federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna from an interview in October about the emis- sion-cutting targets Canada agreed to reach by 2030 in the Paris Accord. "We are the first generation to feel the impacts of climate change and the last to be able to stop them," the minister is quot- ed as saying. "The actions to be taken go beyond partisanship." Despite its promises and beaux mots, Lespérance says the Canadian govern- ment continues to pay only lip service to the fight against climate change. "Even Canada's auditor general has said that by 2030, when Canada's levels of carbon emissions under the Paris Accord should be 350 megatonnes — or 50 per cent of our 2010 level — we will at best be around 600 mega- tonnes, which is our 1990 level," says Lespérance. — Mark Cardwell R E G I O N A L W R A P "There are three issues at play here: that the government has the power to do something to deal with an urgent situation; that it has the duty and responsibility to do something; and that it is violating both of those things." André Lespérance, Trudel Johnston & Lespérance OSGOODE'S PART-TIME PROFESSIONAL LLM DON'T JUST PRACTICE LAW. MASTER IT. For the lawyer who wants to dig deeper and truly excel in what they do, the commitment goes beyond billable hours. Immerse yourself in a rich learning environment that puts you with highly engaged and inspiring peers who are as passionate about what they do as you are. Choose from 6 specializations: · Administrative Law · Business Law · Constitutional Law · Dispute Resolution · Energy & Infrastructure Law · Tax Law Canada's leading Professional LLM for lawyers, executives and experienced professionals Learn more about your options at osgoodepd.ca/cdnlawyer Outside Toronto? Most specializations can be completed remotely. Imran Noorani, MBA, LLM (Energy & Infrastructure Law) President, Canadian RiteRate Energy Corporation ntitled-5 1 2019-01-17 12:38 PM

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