Dianne Saxe

Dianne Saxe is a Canadian environmental lawyer and politician. She was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario from 2015 to 2019 and is Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario (GPO), serving with Abhijeet Manay.[1] She has been rated among the top 25 environmental lawyers in the world.[2][3]

Dianne Saxe
Deputy Leader, Green Party of Ontario
Assumed office
November 16, 2020
Personal details
RelativesMorton Shulman (father)
Alma mater

Saxe studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School, earning an LL.B. in 1974 and a Ph.D. in 1991. Prior to entering the government sector, Saxe worked in private practice with two major law firms and then ran an environmental law boutique firm for 25 years. Her early career focused on the intersection of environmental law and corporate liability, while her more recent practice has centred on climate change and related law. She has published widely on environmental issues. From 1975-1989, Saxe practiced law with the Ontario government, serving with both Conservative and Liberal governments. Doug Ford’s Conservative government terminated her position as Environmental Commissioner after she released a series of reports critical of environmental rollbacks.[4]

Saxe's position as Deputy Leader was announced along with her candidacy for the GPO in University-Rosedale in November 2020.[5] Her 2022 election bid will be the Ontario Greens' highest-profile campaign in the city.[4]

Saxe is the daughter of Canadian doctor, businessman, media personality, and politician Morton Shulman,[6] who served as a Member of Provincial Parliament for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 1960s and 1970s. She is the mother of MIT Neuroscience professor Rebecca Saxe, and University of Toronto Civil Engineering Professor, Shoshanna Saxe.

After completing her LL.B., Saxe worked in Ontario Government Legal Services from 1975 to 1989, overlapping the provincial premierships of Bill Davis and David Peterson. Her focus included major infrastructure design, approvals, and tradeoffs, as well as complex prosecutions related to spills. She produced a research paper on liability for contaminated site for the Canadian Law Reform Commission.[7]

In 1991 Saxe moved into private practice. She represented the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in their successful $115 million claim against Stewardship Ontario for the cost of Ontario's Blue Box program in 2014.[8]

Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

Saxe was appointed to the position of Environmental Commissioner of Ontario in 2015 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, unanimously, for a five year term.[9][2][10] The Commissioner was an independent legislative officer, guardian of the Environmental Bill of Rights and required by the Bill [11] to report to the Ontario Legislature each year on Ontario's progress on each of energy conservation, environmental protection and climate change. She was also permitted to deliver special reports. As Commissioner, she delivered 17 reports to the Legislature on topics including environmental injustice to First Nations,[12][13] electricity,[14] waste and circular economy,[15] endangered species,[16] water pollution,[17][18] soil health[19] and climate policy.[20][21] Saxe also spoke across Canada as part of her role.

On November 15, 2018, five months after the beginning of the Doug Ford term, it was announced that her position would be abolished by legislation and some of its functions transferred to the Auditor General.[22] Saxe had published reports critical of the incoming administration's environmental positions, including the absence of a climate change policy.[23] The decision to eliminate independent environmental oversight was widely reported on. More than 200 scientists and researchers sent an open letter to the Premier calling for reconsideration.[24] Her last report was even more critical of the Doug Ford government.[25] After 25 years, the position of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario ceased to exist when the Environmental Bill of Rights was amended on April 1, 2019.[11]

Publications and media

After being the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Saxe reopened her SaxeFacts environmental law practice focussed on climate issues.[26] She publishes articles and a blog and presents on climate issues.[27][28][29][30][31] She was a McMurtry Clinical Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School (2019-2020)[32] and is a senior fellow at Massey College and an adjunct professor at The University of Toronto School of the Environment. Her podcast, called "Green Economy Heroes" features interviews with green business leaders.[33] She has also been a public support to the youth climate strikes movement in Toronto.[34]

Books
  • Environmental Offences Corporate Responsibility and Executive Liability (1990), Canada Law Book.[35]
  • A Buyer's Guide to Contaminated Land (1994), Edmond Montgomery.[36]
  • Ontario Environmental Protection Act Annotated (1990), Canada Law Book.[37]

Awards and recognition

Saxe is a recipient of numerous awards, including specialist certifications from The Law Society of Upper Canada,[9] Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Gold Key for Achievement [38] and a 2020 Law Society Medal for exemplary leadership in environmental law.[39] In August 2020, Saxe completed her training to become an En-ROADS Climate Ambassador, a member in the international network that leads climate simulation events developed by Climate Interactive and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative.[40] Saxe is also a trained Climate Reality Leader, having been personally trained by Al Gore on the climate crisis and its solutions.

Saxe sat on a number of public and private boards, including Draxis Health, Solarshare,[41] WindShare and Evergreen,[42] helped to manage the endowment of the Ontario Bar Association and is recognized as Board-Ready by Women in Capital Markets.[43]

References
  1. McIntosh, Emma (November 16, 2020). "Former environmental watchdog Dianne Saxe appointed deputy leader of Ontario Greens". National Observer.
  2. "Congratulations and welcome to the new Commissioner!". Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  3. "About Dianne Saxe". Slaw: Canada's Online Legal Magazine. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  4. Rushowy, Kristin (October 8, 2021). "Political parties are aligning their stars for next year's Ontario election". The Toronto Star. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  5. "Dianne Saxe named Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario". Green Party of Ontario. November 16, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  6. "Morton Shulman and Saxe family | Ontario Jewish Archives". search.ontariojewisharchives.org.
  7. "Chronology". Saxe Facts. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  8. "Update on Blue Box Arbitration". Stewardship Ontario. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  9. "Dianne Saxe '74, '91 (PhD) appointed Environmental Commissioner of Ontario". Osgoode Hall Law School. Osgoode Hall Law School. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  10. "Focus: Saxe gearing up for new role as commissioner". Law Times News. Law Times News. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  11. "Law Document English View". Ontario.ca. July 24, 2014.
  12. "Environmental Commissioner of Ontario calls upon province to take action in Chemical Valley". Ecojustice. October 25, 2017.
  13. "Environmental Commissioner of Ontario's Report". November 8, 2017.
  14. https://eco.auditor.on.ca/reports/2018-making-connections/
  15. https://eco.auditor.on.ca/reports/2017-beyond-the-blue-box/
  16. https://eco.auditor.on.ca/reports/2017-good-choices-bad-choices/
  17. https://eco.auditor.on.ca/reports/2018-back-to-basics/
  18. "Raw sewage overflowing into waterways at alarming rate: Ontario watchdog". Global News.
  19. https://eco.auditor.on.ca/reports/2016-putting-soil-health-first/
  20. https://eco.auditor.on.ca/reports/2018-climate-action-in-ontario/
  21. Saxe, Dianne. "ECO Reports and Environmental Policies in Canada".
  22. "Opinion | Eliminating Ontario's environmental commissioner a short-sighted move". thestar.com. November 19, 2018.
  23. "The environmental commissioner shows why the powers Doug Ford just eliminated are so important". TVO.org.
  24. "Scientists' letter to Ford on the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario". Evidence For Democracy. December 4, 2018.
  25. "Ontario environment commissioner exits warning of 'frightening' policies". March 27, 2019.
  26. Saxe, Dianne. "Climate Change Toronto and the Climate Crisis". Saxe Facts.
  27. Saxe, Dianne. "Informative Climate Law Articles".
  28. "10 principles to guide the transition to a green economy". Open Canada. September 16, 2019.
  29. Saxedate=April 21, 2020, Dianne (21 April 2020). "Canada's murky bailout deal for oil and gas will cost us all". National Observer.
  30. Saxe, Dianne. "Learn More in our Climate Risk Management Blog".
  31. Saxe, Dianne. "In-Depth and Informative Climate Presentations".
  32. "Meet the McMurtry Fellows". Osgoode Hall Law School.
  33. Saxe, Dianne. "Green Economy Heroes Climate Podcast".
  34. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Environnement-. "Outiller les jeunes pour la lutte contre les changements climatiques". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  35. Saxe, Dianne. Environmental offences : corporate responsibility and executive liability – via www.torontopubliclibrary.ca.
  36. https://commentary.canlii.org/w/canlii/1996CanLIIDocs14?zoupio-debug#!fragment//(hash:(chunk:(anchorText:),notesQuery:,scrollChunk:!n,searchQuery:'%22dianne%20saxe%22',searchSortBy:RELEVANCE,tab:search))
  37. "Ontario Environmental Protection Act Annotated". store.thomsonreuters.ca.
  38. "Alumni Gold Key Recipients". Osgoode Hall Law School.
  39. "Law Society announces 2020 award recipients". Law Society of Ontario. Law Society of Ontario. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  40. "Meet our Ambassadors". Climate Interactive. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  41. "SolarShare". SolarShare.
  42. "Home | Evergreen". www.evergreen.ca.
  43. "Women in Capital Markets". Women in Capital Markets.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.