Roundup: Frivolous lawsuits that help no one

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Because climate lawsuits on behalf of youths are apparently all the rage, another one has been launched, this time against the Ford government in Ontario, because of their cancellation of the cap-and-trade system and their challenging of the federal carbon price. I can barely even.

So, to recap: Lawsuits are about getting individual remedies, and these actions are not designed to do so. They are using “novel” Charter arguments, which are an abuse of process. It’s also trying to use the courts to impose public policy solutions, which is not the job of the courts. That’s not their function, and trying to use the courts because you lost at politics is not how things work. And further to that point, the courts are already overburdened, and these kind of frivolous suits – and that’s exactly what they are – waste everyone’s time and court resources, and I would fully expect the courts to impose costs on those who brought forward these complaints that waste everyone’s time.

I spent an afternoon on the Twitter machine of being accused of not taking climate action seriously because I made these points about this lawsuit, which is not the case at all. My point – as exemplified by the (very good) lawyer who joined in the fight over Twitter, is that this is a political problem, not a legal one. You don’t use a saw to hammer a nail, which is what this lawsuit is attempting to do. The courts are not the place for this because they can’t force a government to come up with a climate change plan that meets the expectations of scientists – that’s not how life works, and it’s not how democracy works. And sure, young people are frustrated with the slow action so far, but democracy depends on people organising, and that means doing the hard work of getting involved in riding associations, changing party policy though conventions, and agitating internally to do something. And it means organising. I can’t stress this enough – organise, organise, organise. Protest votes won’t get you anywhere – and let’s face it, that’s what Green votes are. That’s how you make change in politics, and the sooner that young people realise this – and you can join parties as young as sixteen and start volunteering and voting on nominations and resolutions – the more you will be effecting meaningful change. (Want to learn more about how that works? Read my book).

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau met with Newfoundland and Labrador premier Dwight Ball, talking Muskrat Falls, electricity prices, and why Kenney’s equalization fight is wrong.
  • The CN Rail strike has ended by way of negotiation, meaning calls for back-to-work legislation were premature, though there will still be disruptions for weeks.
  • Chrystia Freeland was in Regina to meet with Scott Moe, who says it was a more cordial meeting than his with Trudeau, but he’s still making unrealistic demands.
  • The judge at the Federal Court who heard the judicial review of the Human Rights Tribunal compensation order says he’ll issue a ruling as soon as possible.
  • The government is looking for the courts to toss the lawsuit from former diplomats in Cuba and their families about “Havana Syndrome.”
  • Survivors of the Polytechnique massacre are calling on the government to put a moratorium on sales of assault-style firearms and a permanent handgun ban.
  • The Privacy Commissioner says that a Victoria-based company violated Canadian and BC privacy laws when they worked on a pro-Brexit campaign.
  • Conservatives in Quebec are unhappy with Scheer’s leadership, and some say they won’t run again under the party banner if he stays on.
  • It’s some more Cult of the Insider nonsense around the plan by the Conservatives to portray Maxine Bernier as a racist.
  • The Alberta government told a provincial court that they plan to reform campaign finance and transparency laws (as a way of getting the CTF out of trouble).
  • Heather Scoffield suggests that a possible global economic slowdown could be the time to stimulate the transition to a cleaner, more digital economy.
  • My column looks at the kinds of hard-to-see corrosion of our parliamentary democracy that the refusal to put senators into Cabinet engenders.

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One thought on “Roundup: Frivolous lawsuits that help no one”

  1. They’ll just dismiss your cogent arguments with “OK Boomer” or some such meme nonsense. Or social media slacktivism or more whining about PropRep and that it’s Trudeau’s fault for why Green votes are useless protest votes. Remember Elizabeth May wanted a war cabinet to impose a green dictatorship, usurping the role of prime minister in what amounts to a stealth overthrow of the government. The philosophical question of whether the climate crisis is urgent enough to have outpaced realpolitik may be an important and inevitable one, but realistically speaking, you go to war with the army — and the tools — you have.

    That’s lost on these kids who fail to take into account the broader context of why setting precedent like this is not only unproductive but dangerous: consider the fact that your opponent undoubtedly will use the same weapons to advance their own cause. I mean, what if a bunch of yellow vests wanted to (ab)use the courts to bring about the Albertafication of the whole country, by forcing the government to come up with an energy policy that meets the market expectations of the oilpatch C-suite and imposing a “We Heart Oil & Gas” dictatorship under King Kudatah Kenney?

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