Foreword to the first edition

• Author: Constance Hunt
• Profession: Alberta Court of Appeal
• Pages: 15-16

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FOREWORD

to the First Edition

When I graduated from law school in 1972, nowhere in the curriculum

could one f‌ind a course called Environmental Law. To the extent that

that subject matter was considered at all, it was t hrough, at most, passing

reference in courses such as Municipal Law, Torts, or International Law.

Twenty-f‌ive years later, the scene is remarkably changed. All Can-

adian law schools offer at least one such course. Ma ny offer more. There

are specialized law reports and journals, loose-leaf services, news-

letters, casebooks, and national and provincial organizations devoted

to research, education, and law reform. This f‌lurry of activity ref‌lects

society’s recognition of the importance of the environment. It also

ref‌lects the fact that law is one of the tools essential to environmental

protection. Every day, courts and other tribunals in our country are

called on to resolve disputes among parties such as governments, agen-

cies, business, and private citizens, each of whom has a role to play in

ensuring that our children will have a clean, healthy, and esthetically

acceptable planet on which to reside.

As a judge, I appreciate the immense contribution made by my for-

mer academic colleagues to the clarif‌ication and explanation of law

and legal systems. Academics are able to specialize in a way that most

judges cannot. Judges must resolve specif‌ic cases; academics can take

the long, wide view. I often turn to books and articles written by aca-

demic commentators to help me understand both the narrow and the

broad aspects of a case that I have to decide.