McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law, 2022
In winter 2021, the Regional County Municipality
of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit ... more In winter 2021, the Regional County Municipality of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit adopted resolutions to provide rights and legal personhood to the Magpie River in Quebec. This event is part of a globally developing movement: the granting of rights to rivers, streams, and other natural entities to better protect them. Granting rights—and even legal personhood—to nature is imagined to be a solution to reestablish a human-nature relationship which reflects their interconnection and thus escape the current legal system’s anthropocentric ethic. These rights’ true efficacy rests, however, on the mechanisms that implement them. The guardianship framing the protection of New Zealand’s Whanganui River appears promising, as it imposes responsibilities on guardians tasked with protecting natural entities, creating an ecocentric model. But is granting rights to nature, who alone cannot challenge the liberal foundations of the legal system in which they operate, truly a better path to protect them? This article reflects on this question after assessing the legal stakes surrounding the grant of rights to the Magpie River in Quebec and the characteristics of New Zealand’s regime implementing the rights of the Whanganui River.
Canada\u27s leading experts in a day-long conference analyzing the implications of the key decisi... more Canada\u27s leading experts in a day-long conference analyzing the implications of the key decision of Vavilov for various areas of administrative decision-making
À l’annonce du dépôt par le gouvernement québécois du projet de loi no 49 concernant la Loi assur... more À l’annonce du dépôt par le gouvernement québécois du projet de loi no 49 concernant la Loi assurant la mise en oeuvre de l’Accord entre le gouvernement du Canada et le gouvernement du Québec sur la gestion conjointe des hydrocarbures dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent, plusieurs groupes citoyens affirment leur mécontentement et leur crainte quant à l’éventualité de l’exploitation des hydrocarbures extracôtiers du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Leurs inquiétudes sont notamment liées aux risques environnementaux et à leurs répercusions économiques sur les régions qui dépendent directement des ressources contenues dans les eaux du golfe, notamment les Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Le projet de loi no 49 propose des mesures pour encadrer l’exploitation, mais il suggère également un régime de responsabilité civile pour pollution, à l’instar de la loi en vigueur dans la province voisine de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Ce régime comporte toutefois certaines lacunes, à la lumière du principe du pollueur-payeur e...
The potentialo ft rusteeshipt heorya nd relatedf iduciaryd utiesi n resolvinge nvironmental probl... more The potentialo ft rusteeshipt heorya nd relatedf iduciaryd utiesi n resolvinge nvironmental problemsf irste merged in the1 970s.T rusteeship theory suggestsagovernance modelt hatw oulda llowt he Statet oa dopt a holistic approach to nature management andt oc onsiderf uture generations'i nterests.
McGill Journal of Sustainable Development Law, 2022
In winter 2021, the Regional County Municipality
of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit ... more In winter 2021, the Regional County Municipality of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit adopted resolutions to provide rights and legal personhood to the Magpie River in Quebec. This event is part of a globally developing movement: the granting of rights to rivers, streams, and other natural entities to better protect them. Granting rights—and even legal personhood—to nature is imagined to be a solution to reestablish a human-nature relationship which reflects their interconnection and thus escape the current legal system’s anthropocentric ethic. These rights’ true efficacy rests, however, on the mechanisms that implement them. The guardianship framing the protection of New Zealand’s Whanganui River appears promising, as it imposes responsibilities on guardians tasked with protecting natural entities, creating an ecocentric model. But is granting rights to nature, who alone cannot challenge the liberal foundations of the legal system in which they operate, truly a better path to protect them? This article reflects on this question after assessing the legal stakes surrounding the grant of rights to the Magpie River in Quebec and the characteristics of New Zealand’s regime implementing the rights of the Whanganui River.
Canada\u27s leading experts in a day-long conference analyzing the implications of the key decisi... more Canada\u27s leading experts in a day-long conference analyzing the implications of the key decision of Vavilov for various areas of administrative decision-making
À l’annonce du dépôt par le gouvernement québécois du projet de loi no 49 concernant la Loi assur... more À l’annonce du dépôt par le gouvernement québécois du projet de loi no 49 concernant la Loi assurant la mise en oeuvre de l’Accord entre le gouvernement du Canada et le gouvernement du Québec sur la gestion conjointe des hydrocarbures dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent, plusieurs groupes citoyens affirment leur mécontentement et leur crainte quant à l’éventualité de l’exploitation des hydrocarbures extracôtiers du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Leurs inquiétudes sont notamment liées aux risques environnementaux et à leurs répercusions économiques sur les régions qui dépendent directement des ressources contenues dans les eaux du golfe, notamment les Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Le projet de loi no 49 propose des mesures pour encadrer l’exploitation, mais il suggère également un régime de responsabilité civile pour pollution, à l’instar de la loi en vigueur dans la province voisine de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. Ce régime comporte toutefois certaines lacunes, à la lumière du principe du pollueur-payeur e...
The potentialo ft rusteeshipt heorya nd relatedf iduciaryd utiesi n resolvinge nvironmental probl... more The potentialo ft rusteeshipt heorya nd relatedf iduciaryd utiesi n resolvinge nvironmental problemsf irste merged in the1 970s.T rusteeship theory suggestsagovernance modelt hatw oulda llowt he Statet oa dopt a holistic approach to nature management andt oc onsiderf uture generations'i nterests.
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Papers by Stéphanie Roy
of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit adopted
resolutions to provide rights and legal personhood to the Magpie
River in Quebec. This event is part of a globally developing
movement: the granting of rights to rivers, streams, and other
natural entities to better protect them. Granting rights—and
even legal personhood—to nature is imagined to be a solution
to reestablish a human-nature relationship which reflects
their interconnection and thus escape the current legal system’s
anthropocentric ethic. These rights’ true efficacy rests, however,
on the mechanisms that implement them. The guardianship
framing the protection of New Zealand’s Whanganui River
appears promising, as it imposes responsibilities on guardians
tasked with protecting natural entities, creating an ecocentric
model. But is granting rights to nature, who alone cannot
challenge the liberal foundations of the legal system in
which they operate, truly a better path to protect them? This
article reflects on this question after assessing the legal stakes
surrounding the grant of rights to the Magpie River in Quebec
and the characteristics of New Zealand’s regime implementing
the rights of the Whanganui River.
Books by Stéphanie Roy
of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit adopted
resolutions to provide rights and legal personhood to the Magpie
River in Quebec. This event is part of a globally developing
movement: the granting of rights to rivers, streams, and other
natural entities to better protect them. Granting rights—and
even legal personhood—to nature is imagined to be a solution
to reestablish a human-nature relationship which reflects
their interconnection and thus escape the current legal system’s
anthropocentric ethic. These rights’ true efficacy rests, however,
on the mechanisms that implement them. The guardianship
framing the protection of New Zealand’s Whanganui River
appears promising, as it imposes responsibilities on guardians
tasked with protecting natural entities, creating an ecocentric
model. But is granting rights to nature, who alone cannot
challenge the liberal foundations of the legal system in
which they operate, truly a better path to protect them? This
article reflects on this question after assessing the legal stakes
surrounding the grant of rights to the Magpie River in Quebec
and the characteristics of New Zealand’s regime implementing
the rights of the Whanganui River.