TCA Environmental Committee FREE Seminar: Environmental Law Developments Impacting the Construction Industry

- January 22, 202512:00 PM - 1:00 PM (local time)
Virtual via Zoom

FOCUS OF THIS SEMINAR:

Please join Talia Gordner and Annik Forristal of McMillan LLP on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, via Zoom, to discuss environmental law developments and trends impacting the construction industry, including new reporting obligations relating to plastics and PFAS, the climate change aspects of the New Ontario Building Code, and the implications of Canada’s greenwashing legislation. While the scope of environmental regulation continues to expand both nationally and globally, the construction industry has become an increasing focal point for both federal and provincial regulations. This session will answer your questions on both recent developments and incoming changes to assist your business in understanding its environmental obligations today and going forward.

SEMINAR MODERATOR

Sandra Burnell, BES, BArch, OAA, Principal, Revay and Associates Limited

Sandra Burnell is the chair of the Toronto Construction Association’s Environmental Committee. With more than 35 years of experience in the construction industry, she has sat on various construction related committees and spoken at a number of industry events. She was the Senior Architect for the $4.4 billion Airport Development Project while working for Transport Canada and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) before joining the PCL/Aecon Joint Venture team as the Commissioning and QA/QC Manager for the GTAA’s $2.1 billion Terminal One Project. In 2006, Sandra joined Revay and Associates Limited where she is now a Principal. At Revay she has become proficient in the preparation of claims and expert reports. While successfully testifying on behalf of her clients in the courts, Sandra has also participated in numerous successful mediations.

Sandra is a registered architect and has completed both a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Waterloo.

PANELISTS

Talia Gordner, Partner | McMillan LLP

Talia Gordner is a commercial litigation and regulatory partner at McMillan LLP. Her advocacy practice covers a broad range of corporate and commercial matters with an emphasis in the management and resolution of complex environmental and regulatory disputes. Talia represents clients from a wide range of industries, including construction, oil and gas, and manufacturing, in environmental matters involving recent, ongoing and historical contamination and in the defence of regulatory and quasi-criminal federal and provincial investigations, regulatory enforcement actions and prosecutions. She assists clients in all areas of environmental compliance and has a full understanding of environmental reporting and approvals obligations at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, including with respect to excess soil, waste management and sewer, dust, odour and noise emissions. Talia also advises on environmental risk, liability and due diligence issues at all stages of complex real estate, business and financing transactions with a focus on getting the deal across the finish line. Talia regularly speaks and publishes on environmental law topics, is an active member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section, the American Bar Association Section of Environment Energy and Resources’ Enforcement & Litigation Committee and the Toronto Construction Association’s Environmental Committee.

Annik Forristal, Co-Group Head of McMillan LLP’s National Infrastructure & Construction Group | McMillan LLP

Annik is a Co-Group Head of McMillan LLP’s National Infrastructure and Construction Group whose practice is dedicated to the construction, infrastructure and development industries. A practicing engineer before becoming a lawyer, Annik provides advice and representation on project delivery, contractual allocation and management of risk, municipal land use planning and related approvals, project administration, claims management and dispute avoidance. Annik has broad experience negotiating, drafting and advising on complex construction contracts and development agreements, including custom-drafted and standard form construction contracts (such as CCDC, CCA, OAA, RAIC and ACEC). Her extensive project experience includes condominiums, university and hospital developments, entertainment facilities, industrial facilities, transportation infrastructure, and district and renewable energy installations. Annik is also fully versed in the front-end approvals and permitting necessary for development and construction projects. She helps her clients obtain official plan amendments, rezonings, site plan approvals, severances and minor variances, as well as authorizations from heritage and conservation authorities.

Category:
TCA Event

Organizer:
Vishawn Thompson

Registration

Registration deadline: January 22, 2025.

Trump Executive Order Launches Trade War

Important Update: President Trump Pauses Tariff’s on Canada for at Least 30 Days

Dear TCA members,

As you know, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods over the weekend that will take effect tomorrow morning and have enormous economic consequences. Prime Minister Trudeau has predictably released a list of goods subject to a retaliatory tariff and so begins the trade war. The impacts of the U.S trade tax and the Trudeau retaliatory countermeasures will be considerable and will absolutely affect the Canadian construction industry.

This trade war is not going away any time soon. Trump is prone to drama as we know and his threats relating to NAFTA during his last term as President were bad but not devastating by the time the new trade agreement was signed. Since then, the U.S. trade deficit with Canada has grown from $31 billion to closer to $100 billion. That’s the real reason for the trade war. The cross-border fentanyl distribution argument was a means to an end and was presumably used to justify the emergency measures legislation. Our best guess is that this new trade war will have severe and enduring impacts on TCA members.

In the coming months, news channels will be filled with stories about trade wars and their impacts but likely not satisfy your need to understand how your day-to-day businesses will be affected. Our focus at TCA will be on sharing industry-specific impacts including strategic best practices which we commit to share with TCA members as new information becomes available.

In the interest of ensuring that we are sharing meaningful and helpful information, TCA is already negotiating with an international trade strategy consultant in the hope that a strategic partnership with trade impact experts will add genuine and unique value for TCA members. I also serve on the Board of the Canadian Construction Association with whom I have been communicating 24-7 since the executive order was signed on Saturday. Rest assured that CCA is in constant contact with the federal government to analyze the Trudeau countermeasures and influence the go-forward strategy of trade negotiators. That too will be shared as it happens.

In the interim, please don’t hesitate to share your views and/or ask for assistance. We exist to serve the needs of our members and the road ahead will indeed be challenging.

Respectfully,
John Mollenhauer
President and CEO

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