Provincial+jurisdiction

According to Section 92 of the Constitution Act Provincial powers include property rights, environmental policy and ownership of resources on provincial lands. In British Columbia this is realized through various legislative acts which include management of water, environment, forestry and range, mines, and wildlife. However distribution of the multiple layers of Constitutional power is nuanced and complex and has been the source of tension between provincial and federal governments. For example the federal Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA), intended to safe guard human health through pollution prevention, has come into direct conflict with provincial legislation. In accordance to the Constitution Act it would appear on the face of it that Alberta and Saskatchewan are free to develop tar sands as they see appropriate, the courts have said otherwise. Despite provincial control over natural resources, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that protection of the air shed falls under federal jurisdiction. In other words provincial regulation of tar sands development is ultra vires (beyond its authority) if federal emissions standards are not observed.