University of Calgary
IN-25: Innovation B

The University of Calgary’s Environmental Law Clinic is regionally innovative and provides benefit to local and national stakeholders. The clinic was established to address a clear need in Alberta. There is only a handful of lawyers in Alberta who are willing and able to provide legal services in public interest environmental law, and even fewer who can offer their legal expertise pro bono to the environmental community which has no budget for expensive litigation to protect threatened species. The clinic serves the Alberta environmental community by offering these services while providing law students with real world experience in public interest lawyering. The hope is that students who work in the clinic will build on these experiences and graduate from the University of Calgary as strong advocates for sustainability in the communities they serve. It is unique for a number of reasons, including:
• Its provision of free legal advice for public environmental law organizations and provision of access to justice from groups otherwise financially unable to participate in local environmental legal matters
• Its achievement of many positive results for the protection and improvement of both the provincial and national environment
• Its experiential education activities and research in environmental law

The environmental law clinic was established following an initial needs assessment carried out by Associate Professor Shaun Fluker. Prof. Fluker interviewed eleven Alberta environmental organizations to examine how these organizations made use of law in their work. This research demonstrated that these organizations frequently engage with government officials in law or policy issues concerning environmental matters, and access to justice was identified by each organization as a significant barrier for them. These groups typically have either insufficient funds to obtain legal representation, or they simply cannot find an lawyer in Alberta willing to represent them due to the conflicting nature of legal environmental advocacy work in Alberta – the province’s largest industry is oil and gas. The Faculty of Law, on the advice of Professor Fluker, decided to address these barriers by providing pro bono legal services in public interest environmental law through the Environmental Law Clinic. Local groups and organizations which have been served by the Environmental Law Clinic since its inception include:

• Ecojustice, Calgary Office
• Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Southern Alberta Chapter
• Water Matters
• Alberta Surface Rights Group
• No Turbines in Town (Cochrane)
• Alberta Wilderness Association
• Timberwolf Wilderness Society

The Clinic provides legal services in a variety of areas, including free legal representation on behalf of landowners and public interest groups appearing before administrative tribunals in energy and environmental law matters, such as the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board. Socio-ecological concerns arising from energy development near high-density residential areas have been dealt with by the clinic as well. Most recently, students enrolled in the clinic represented the Alberta Wilderness Association and Timberwolf Wilderness Society in civil proceedings against the Federal Government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Federal Government had failed in their legal duty to issue a Critical Habitat Order under the federal Species at Risk Act to protect the nearly extinct westslope cutthroat trout in Alberta's rivers and lakes.
In response to the legal action filed by the clinic in federal court, the Federal Government issued the Critical Habitat Order in late 2015, at the time making it only the second such order in effect in Canada. The order prohibits any action that threatens the habitat or recovery of westslope cutthroat trout in Alberta; making it an invaluable tool for Alberta's conservationists. The Federal Government has since issued nine more Critical Habitat Orders under the legislation.
The Environmental Law Clinic received the Calgary Award for Environmental Achievement, which recognizes the innovative application of advanced technology, climate resilience or environmental management to contribute to the conservation of Calgary’s natural environment.