It’s important to be transparent that this Shared Measurement System was designed from a non-Indigenous worldview and we recognize that Indigenous ways of knowing are absent from it. For more information on this positioning, see our Right Relations page.

Getting data to report on this impact measure is a work in progress. This Shared Measurement System belongs to all members of the Our Living Waters Network, so if you have any data or ideas to share with us on this measure, please send us an email at [email protected].

Overview

Ensuring that citizens have the opportunity to participate in, and challenge, water decisions while being able to ensure laws are implemented is a foundation of a healthy democracy.

Private prosecutions enable individual citizens to initiate legal action where a law is believed to have been broken. Private prosecutions, however, only exist where allowed under legislation. For example, the Northwest Territories has provided for private prosecutions under the Environmental Rights Act. Additionally, every province that has assumed authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (under part 9 of the act) would also have a process for a citizen suit: a lawsuit brought forward by a private citizen.

A more detailed analysis of this measure is necessary to assess the degree to which citizen suit processes are enabled across Canada, in addition to understanding how readily they are utilized.

Last updated November 2017