Env Law Assignment1.docx

Stephanie Altenhof. 104325825 Assignment 1: Has Canada been successful in protecting/improving the environment through environmental laws? Your own thoughts. Student number and word count. 450-550 words If success implies reaching the goal of protecting/improving the environment, then no; however, I believe that Canada is headed in the right direction toward protecting/improving the environment through environmental laws. According to the “Environmental Performance Index” developed by a joint team from Yale and Columbia universities, Canada’s score was 92.77/100 (Healy et al., 2014). However, Canada’s weaknesses included carbon dioxide generation, fisheries management, air pollution and climate change (Healy et al., 2014). This shows that Canada has been relatively successful regarding environmental policy, but there is still room for improvement. If one compares the status of Canada’s past environment, before the law was used to protect and improve the environment, there has been tremendous positive change. During the industrial revolution, the potential health and environmental harms were unknown to the public, so environmental policy wasn’t yet necessary. During these times and up until the late 20th century, the air and water were severely polluted. It wasn’t until animal populations were depleting and human’s health were being affected that the public and the government took notice. There were many significant events that took place which effected environmental laws. *Trail, BC led to polluter pays… Sudbury, acid rain, Rachel carsons book, market hunters (conservationism)*

Healy, Robert G.. Environmental Policy in North America: Approaches, Capacity, and the Management of Transboundary Issues (p. 25). University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division. Kindle Edition.