An Introduction to the Canadian Constitution and Environmental Law

In Canada, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. This constitutional supremacy means that it plays an important role in shaping other government policy as well as laws and regulations. This section will serve as an introduction to the Canadian Constitution and highlight its connections with environmental law. 

This is an introductory piece which will help students to gain a background to environmental law more specifically. It may be a good place to spend some time before diving into the more topical issues. Start with the links on the left hand side, and as you complete each sub-topic, you will follow the links at the bottom of each page (or the links on the left hand side) to the next topic in order.

Teachers:

  • Lesson plans are designed to be used in conjunction (and often after) spending time on the website content itself. They are adaptable and can be used in their entirety or parts of each can be drawn on to create content appropriate for your grade level and curriculum.
  • We suggest pairing this section with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms lesson plan which will help students test their constitutional knowledge. This lesson plan is also the starting point for the Climate Litigation lesson plan.

Students

  • The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms lesson plan is a great way to review your readings on this topic and help move you through the rest of the website.
  • The website content and lesson plans can be completed in groups or on your own to expand your thinking. Make sure to check back with the website content if you have any questions or aren’t sure how to finish.

Additional Resources

  • Don’t forget that you can always look to our Resources page for some other websites and sources of information both to help with the lesson plans and to expand your knowledge even further!

 

What exactly is the constitution? >>

 

 

 

 

The Canadian Constitution And Environmental Law

Lesson Plan: Fundamentals of Environmental Law
Lesson Plan: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Lesson Plan: Tragedy of the Commons
Lesson Plan: Climate Litigation

Curriculum Connections

Newsletter

Join our new Alberta Environmental Laws 101 Facebook group to ask questions, participate in discussions and keep up to date on environmental news. Please share this widely so that the high school teachers and students in your circles hear about this great new resource for supplemental online learning. Alberta Environmental Laws 101 Facebook Group