Deferred prosecution agreements or avoid jail and pay a fine
by Ben Parfitt | March 29, 2019
Deferred prosecution agreements—or DPAs—are much in the news these days thanks to now former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould’s momentous resignation from the federal cabinet. DPAs are a corporate get-out-of-jail-free card or, more precisely, an avoid-jail-and-pay-a-fine-instead card. They became a reality in Canada last year after being slipped into a 500-page federal omnibus budget bill and …
Professor taking the University of Regina to court over denied freedom of information request. Why won’t they comply?
by Emily Eaton | March 26, 2019
It is bad enough that the University of Regina won’t heed the recommendations of Saskatchewan’s information and privacy commissioner to release research funding information. Now the university wants legal arguments to be submitted confidentially in a closed court. You’re not alone if you did a double take on that. The issue arose in November 2017 …
Shaking the Peace: Fracking-induced earthquakes rattle BC Hydro execs and farmers alike
by Ben Parfitt | March 21, 2019
BC Hydro officials were so alarmed by an earthquake that shook the ground at its sprawling Site C dam construction project in late November, they ordered a halt to all work and got on the phone to British Columbia’s Oil and Gas Commission (OCG). The 4.5 magnitude earthquake was linked to natural gas company fracking …
How clean is a BC that subsidizes accelerated fossil fuel extraction?
by Ben Parfitt | February 25, 2019
When the provincial government unveiled its new climate plan late last year, Environment Minister George Heyman, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver and Premier John Horgan presented a happy, united front as ceremonies got underway at Vancouver’s main library. But the biggest smiles of the day may have been on the faces of senior executives at …
