Jack Coop

Jack Coop, Partner, Litigation

Contact Information

  • tel: 416.862.4226
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Areas of Expertise

Bar Admission

Ontario, 1985

Education

  • Osgoode Hall Law School, J.D.
  • University of Manitoba, B.A. (Hons.)

Office

Toronto

Language(s)

English

Biography

Jack specializes in all aspects of environmental litigation: civil actions, prosecutions, class actions, administrative hearings, and judicial review applications, including advice work on how to avoid such litigation and successfully deal with regulators. Jack’s environmental litigation expertise has been refined through more than twenty years as an Ontario Crown counsel and eight years in private practice.  As Crown counsel, Jack spent ten years with the Ministry of the Attorney General representing all ministries of the Crown in civil litigation (including civil actions for damages, class actions and judicial review) and ten years with the Ministry of the Environment conducting prosecutions and hearings. As an Osler partner, Jack’s practice focuses on civil actions, judicial review, environmental hearings and the defense of prosecutions.  He has litigated in every level of court in Canada, including the Supreme Court. He has written and taught extensively in the fields of environmental law and regulatory liability and is certified by the Law Society as a Specialist in Environmental Law.

Notable Matters

  • Suncor Energy Products Inc. Active judicial review application concerning alleged cumulative effects in Sarnia, and the alleged violation of sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms.
  • Anonymous Client. Successfully concluded a multi-party settlement concerning a proposed Ministry of Environment cleanup order and related civil liability claims in respect of historic pollution on and adjacent to an orphaned pulp mill site.
  • West River Management Inc.  Successfully prosecuted a civil action seeking damages for a contaminated industrial site.
  • Belron Canada Incorporated.  Successfully prosecuted a civil action for damages based upon alleged breach of contractual representations and warranties.
  • R. v. Canadian Mist Distillers Limited.  Successfully defended a prosecution in relation to a municipal sewer use by-law.
  • Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. Legal submissions to Canada on the Administrative Monetary Penalties regime of the NEB introduced by the 2012 Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act.
  • Collingwood East Environmental Action Committee v. Director et al. Successfully defended an application for leave to appeal to the Environmental Review Tribunal.
  • York Energy Centre.  Successful litigation advice and support to a 393 megawatt natural gas-fired simple cycle electricity generating project, in relation to matters under Ontario’s Environmental Assessment, Environmental Protection Act, Ontario Water Resources Act, Environmental Bill of Rights Act, Ombudsman Act, Building Code Act and related civil actions.
  • Imperial Oil Limited.  Defence of civil actions for damages alleging soil and groundwater contamination.
  • Rubber Association of Canada, Ontario Tire Stewardship. Legal advice and submissions concerning Ontario’s Waste Diversion Act.
  • Anonymous Client.  Successfully prosecuted a civil claim seeking insurance coverage and compensation for property contamination under Commercial General Liability policies.
  • R. v. General Chemical. Successfully defended a prosecution alleging illegal air emissions under Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act.
  • Canadian Electricity Association.  Preparation of a submission paper to the federal government on the 5 year review of the federal Species at Risk Act.
  • Pearson v. Inco Ltd. and Ontario. Successfully defended the Crown in this major environmental class action brought by residents of Port Colborne, Ontario, alleging, inter alia, regulatory negligence by the Ministry of Environment.
  • Hollinger Farms Inc. v. Minister of Environment and Ontario Realty Corporation. Successfully defended this judicial review application, which challenged Ontario’s class environmental assessment process for the largest land transaction in Ontario’s history – the Seaton/Oak Ridges Moraine Land Exchange.
  • Larry Jackson Fisheries v. Minister of Natural Resources. Successfully defended this judicial review application by the Ontario Commercial Fishery Association challenging the Minister’s adoption of lake-wide fishery quotas on Lake Erie.
  • Imperial Oil v. Quebec Minister of Environment. Successfully represented the Attorney General of Ontario as intervener in a major appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada concerning bias and the polluter-pay principle in relation to a remediation order issued by the Québec Minister of Environment.

Affiliations

  • Law Society of Upper Canada
  • Advocates Society, Canadian Bar Association, American Bar Association
  • Ontario Bar Association, Environmental Law Section Executive
  • Toronto Lawyers Association Law Journal, Environmental Editor

Industry Recognition

  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2012: Environmental Law 

Publications/Events/Education

  • Ontario Resurrects Proposed Great Lakes Protection Act as Part of Larger Great Lakes Strategy, Osler Update, February 28, 2013.
  • Change is in the Air: Ontario Closer to a Cap-and-Trade System, Osler Update, February 21, 2013.
  • U.S. Advisory Committee Releases Draft Climate Change Report for Public Consultation, Osler Update, January 23, 2013.
  • Renewable Energy Approval Appeal Proceedings at the ERT: Building Jurisprudence in Wind Appeals – Lessons Learned, Ontario Bar Association, Natural Resources Section Newsletter, January 17, 2013.
  • Environmental Class Actions, Environmental Law Forum, January 17, 2013.
  • When can Environmental Regulatory Orders be Compromised Claims under the federal Companies Creditors’ Arrangement Act? Supreme Court of Canada provides clarification, Osler Update, December 11, 2012.
  • Environmental Law & Regulation in Ontario – Protecting Against Risk in a Climate of Enhanced Environmental Enforcement, Canadian Institute, October 25, 2012.
  • Documentary Disclosure, Search Warrants and Privilege, Law Society of Upper Canada, October 17, 2012.
  • Ontario Court Dismisses Billion Dollar Damages Claim Relating to Moratorium on Offshore Wind Farms, Osler Update, October 16, 2012.
  • Challenge to Changes in the Feed-in Tariff Program Dismissed by Divisional Court, Osler Update, September 12, 2012.
  • Divisional Court Affirms the Decision of the Environmental Review Tribunal in Kawartha Lakes, Osler Update, June 1, 2012.
  • Is Climate Change Litigation Coming to Canada? Parts 1 and 2, Toronto Lawyers Association Law Journal, November 2008 and January 2009 editions.
  • Is Government Liability Expanding for Historic Pollution Clean-Ups?, Key Developments in Environmental Law, 2008-2009 edition (Chapter 6), Canada Law Book, 2009.
  • Supreme Court Finds Abandonment of Privacy Interest in Waste, Toronto Lawyers Association Law Journal, Summer 2009 edition.
  • Ontario Announces Proposed Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade System, Osler Update, June 15, 2009.
  • Public Law Issues in Litigation Against the Government, Government Liability – Law and Practice (Chapter 11), Canada Law Book, 2009.

Pro Bono/Community Work

  • YMCA, Volunteer Instructor
  • First Interfaith Out of the Cold Program, Congregation Darchei Noam and St. Matthews United Church, Volunteer
  • Friends for Life Bike Rally (Toronto People With AIDS Foundation), Volunteer Rider
  • Ride to Conquer Cancer, Volunteer Rider

Downloadable Profile

Jack Coop