Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ)
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Sustainable Development and the Law
People - Environment - Culture

October 11 – 13, 2006

Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue
580 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, British Columbia

The theme of the 2006 CIAJ Annual Conference is “Sustainable Development and the Law – People – Environment – Culture”. There is a growing awareness that more effective measures are needed to ensure a sustainable society, including protection of the environment, citizens and the social and cultural differences that make Canada unique. Sustainable development, however, requires complex and sometimes difficult choices about the allocation of rights. For example, do landowners have the right to use their property as they see fit, or is land held in stewardship for the benefit of a broader society? How does one find the appropriate balance between economic development and environmental protection, and does one require the compromise of the other? How does sustainable development affect the rights of ordinary citizens in terms of environmental, social and cultural issues? What impact has the increasingly complex common law in respect of aboriginal rights, land title and treaty rights had on Canada’s sustainable future? Can advocacy go too far, such as when citizens who believe passionately that governments are not doing enough to protect the environment, break the law to promote their environmental protection goals? How is one to balance individual rights, which permeate our constitutional order, with collective rights that may be the key to sustainable development? The courts, administrative agencies and tribunals are often the site of resolution of disputes between public and private interests in respect of sustainable development. Do our systems of regulatory invention, policy making and dispute resolution facilitate or prevent the development of integrated strategies to ensure sustainable development?

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