Friends of the Earth v. Canada (Governor-in-Council) et al., 2009 FCA 297

• Judge: Nadon, Sexton and Sharlow, JJ.A.
• Court: Federal Court of Appeal (Canada)
• Case Date: Thursday October 15, 2009
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: 2009 FCA 297;(2009), 397 N.R. 293 (FCA)

Friends of the Earth v. Can. (2009), 397 N.R. 293 (FCA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2009] N.R. TBEd. NO.006

Friends of the Earth - Les Ami(e)s de la Terre (appellant) v. The Minister of the Environment and The Governor in Council (respondents)

(A-572-08; 2009 FCA 297)

Indexed As: Friends of the Earth v. Canada (Governor-in-Council) et al.

Federal Court of Appeal

Nadon, Sexton and Sharlow, JJ.A.

October 15, 2009.

Summary:

The Friends of the Earth - Les Ami(e)s de la Terre brought three applications for judicial review, seeking declaratory and mandatory relief for alleged breaches of duties said to arise under the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act. The Minister of the Environment and the Governor-In-Council asserted that the statutory duties were not justiciable because they were not amenable to judicial review. The applications were heard consecutively.

The Federal Court, in a decision reported at 336 F.T.R. 117; 2008 FC 1183, dismissed the applications. The court had no role to play reviewing the reasonableness of the government's response to Canada's Kyoto commitments. Even if the court was wrong about the issue of justiciability, it would, as a matter of discretion, still decline to make a mandatory order. The Friends of the Earth - Les Amie(e)s de la Terre appealed.

The Federal Court of Appeal agreed with the decision of the trial judge, substantially for the reasons he gave, and dismissed the appeal with costs.

Counsel:

Chris G. Paliare, Andrew W. Lokan and Hugh Wilkins, for the appellant;

Peter Southey and Andrea Bourke, for the respondents.

Solicitors of Record:

Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein, LLP, Toronto, Ontario, and Ecojustice Canada, Toronto, Ontario, for the appellant;

John H. Sims, Q.C., Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, for the respondents.

This appeal was heard and decided on October 15, 2009, at Toronto, Ontario, by Nadon, Sexton and Sharlow, JJ.A., of the Federal Court of Appeal. Sharlow, J.A., delivered the following judgment and reasons for judgment of the court, from the Bench.