Liane Langstaff

Liane Langstaff Associate

Speaks:  English

Year of Call: 2016 - Ontario

Primary phone: +1 416-814-5637

Fax: +1 416-862-7661

Email: liane.langstaff@gowlingwlg.com

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Primary office:  Toronto

Areas of expertise:

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Liane Langstaff

Liane Langstaff is a lawyer in Gowling WLG's Toronto office, practising in the areas of environmental law, land use planning law and Indigenous law.

Liane has a diverse practice, serving municipalities and businesses on a range of environmental matters, including:

  • Guiding businesses on how to comply with regulations concerning climate change, chemicals, waste management and product stewardship;
  • Navigating federal and provincial environmental assessments;
  • Representing clients in contaminated lands litigation, regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings; and
  • Advising clients on land-use planning, zoning and cultural heritage conservation matters.

Liane frequently acts on cutting-edge environmental issues. For example, she represented the Canadian Public Health Association in its intervention in the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act constitutional cases before the Courts of Appeal of Saskatchewan and Ontario.

As an Environmental Sciences, Law and MBA graduate, Liane uses her technical expertise, legal skills and business acumen to advise her clients. As a result of her former role as a law clerk at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, she leverages an intimate knowledge of the courts to represent her clients in complex litigation proceedings before courts and tribunals.

Liane is committed to giving back to her community through environmental education. As part of the Board of EcoSpark, she endeavours to connect youth and their communities to their natural environment through citizen science. She is also active in training the next generation of environmental professionals, having delivered guest lectures at Osgoode Hall Law School (York University), Bora Laskin Faculty of Law (Lakehead University) and the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning.

As part of the Climate Change Lawyers Network, she has brought lawyers and other professionals together to better understand the current developments in climate change law and policy. She writes extensively in the areas of environmental law and climate change law.

Expertise

Career & Recognition

Filter timeline:

  • 2016

    • Qualifications (Year of Call/Admission, etc.)
       2016
      Year of Call, Ontario

Memberships

  • Ontario Bar Association
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Climate Change Lawyers Network

Articles & presentations

"Climate Change Regulatory Update - The Feds Double Down on Carbon Pricing" (October 2018)

"Ontario's cap and trade program ends and Federal Backstop looms: Implications for Ontario businesses"

"Renewable Energy Projects with Northern Ontario First Nations: Considerations, Challenges and Solutions", Lecture and Aboriginal Law Simulation Negotiation, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (January 2016) and Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University (November 2016)

Contributor on Canadian climate change law in David Estrin's Business Guide to Environmental Law (2016 update)

"SCC recognizes federal jurisdiction to deal with Métis and non-status Indian peoples" (April 2016)

"Federal budget & low carbon investments: Canada puts its money where its mouth is" (March 2016)

"Sustainability shift: The evolution of Canadian water policy" (September 2015)

"Sweating the small stuff: Canada's emerging regulatory approach to nanomaterials" (October 2014)

Insights & Resources

View all insights Insights & Resources
Water droplet falling into pool of water Articles
27 August 2019 Five things project proponents need to know about Canada’s new Impact Assessment Act
Articles
28 June 2019 Ontario Court of Appeal decides the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act is constitutional
Articles
19 February 2019 Ontario reveals the details about its performance standards for large industrial emitters

Featured news

10 June 2019 Gowling WLG supports gender diversity & equality through Natural Resources Canada’s Equal by 30 campaign

Representative Work

Client work highlights

Liane has appeared before the Superior Court of Justice on contaminated lands disputes as well as land-use planning and cultural heritage matters. She has experience managing technical experts and navigating administrative tribunal proceedings, including the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) and federal Panels convened under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. She has assisted her clients in mediations, settlement conferences and international arbitrations.

Representative work

  • Assisted municipalities as well as mining and aggregate resources companies navigate federal and provincial environmental assessments, including representing clients in hearings before federal panels convened under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act;
  • Ensured international companies could do business in Canada by advising them on how to comply with complex chemical, waste management and product stewardship regulations;
  • Represented municipalities, energy companies and dry cleaners on contaminated lands litigation, as both plaintiffs and defendants;
  • Acted for municipal and corporate clients on regulatory investigations and enforcement, including matters before the Environmental Review Tribunal;
  • Drafted agreements to protect clients from environmental liabilities, allocate ownership of carbon credits and establish carbon reporting and disclosure requirements;
  • Advised municipal clients on land-use planning, zoning and cultural heritage conservation matters, and brought cases to the Superior Court of Justice to clarify land-use planning law;
  • Assisted energy and corporate clients understand and implement their obligations to consult with Indigenous communities and foster meaningful partnerships; and
  • Acted for non-profit organizations on cutting-edge environmental issues, including representing the Canadian Public Health Association in its intervention in the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act constitutional cases before the Courts of Appeal of Saskatchewan and Ontario.