ISSUES: By allowing toxic spraying, does Canada breach its legal obligations under the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)?
It’s been a few years but while researching the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in relation to several proposed LNG terminals in the Quoddy Region of the Bay of Fundy, I had shown, I think, that Canada was obliged under UNCLOS to protect the Canadian waters in the vicinity of Passamaquoddy Bay and that the United States has no rights under this international agreement since it has never signed UNCLOS.
This whole concern about Canada’s legal obligation relative to ocean pollution made me revisit my files on UNCLOS. It seems that I remembered that Canada has some serious legal obligations relative to the impacts of forest and agricultural sprays, fracking wastes, brine dumping and other pollutants on shared waters and the ocean area that it holds in trust under the agreement.
I am no lawyer, but as my mentor Dr. John Anderson would say, “in my simple mind” it would appear that Canada, the Maritime Provinces, and a gaggle of corporations, both public and private, are in breach of the UN International Law of the Sea.
TIME FOR SOME HEAVY THINKING! You can form your own opinion. Everything is wrapped up in Article 194 which is reproduced in annotated form below.
