J.M. Madeleine Donahue
Madeleine is head of environmental practice in Macleod Dixon’s Toronto office where she practices primarily in the environmental, occupational health and safety, privacy and natural resources law areas. Madeleine is certified as an expert in environmental law by the Law Society of Upper Canada and is recognized as a leading and repeatedly recommended environmental expert by LEXPERT and is listed in Euromoney Institutional Investor's Guide to the World's Leading Environmental Lawyers. She holds a Martindale Hubbell BV Peer Review rating.
Madeleine's environmental practice encompasses three broad categories: transactional due diligence, litigation and defence, and regulatory guidance. Specific experience includes: opinions and advice on environmental and OHSA liability and risk, strategic advice on compliance and due diligence, audits, approval and permit requirements, environmental assessment of projects, mining and energy related environmental issues, lender liability, spills, environmental site assessments and remediation, decommissioning and brownfields redevelopment, underground and aboveground tanks, air and water pollution, contaminated lands, toxic and hazardous substances, waste management, environmental insurance, TDGA as well as Fisheries Act and CEPA and CEAA matters. Madeleine has extensive experience in environmental and OHSA issues arising in the corporate, commercial, real estate and financing contexts. She also defends clients in the event of government prosecutions and clean-up orders and acts on private party contaminated site dispute matters and common law causes of action in respect of contamination.
In the area of natural resources, Madeleine was counsel to a mining joint venture which concluded the Musselwhite Agreement among the Ontario and federal governments and First Nation Groups. She has experience with aboriginal impact benefit agreements particularly in the mining and forest resources context. Madeleine also works on international environmental and mining matters.
Madeleine also provides advice on privacy and access to information legislation across Canada and on management practices and policies. She has a particular interest in health/health informatics, electronic health records and telemedicine.
- York University (Osgoode Hall), LL.M., Masters in Health Law (Honours) 2006
- University of Calgary, LL.B., 1982
- Concordia University, B.A., 1975
- University of Manitoba, Education Diploma, 1970
- Ontario, 1984
- English
- French
- Member, Canadian Bar Association (Ontario), 1984 to present
- Member, the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario), 1984 to present
- Member of Executive, Natural Resources & Energy Section, Ontario Bar Association
- Associate Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Canadian Society for Telehealth
- Member, Canada Health Informatics Association
- Member, Canadian Brownfields Network
- Past Chair, Environmental Section, Canadian Bar Association, Ontario, 1996 to 1998
- Member of the Editorial Board of Ontario’s CCH Real Estate Law Guide
- Member of the Editorial Board, Journal Environment Law, Federated Press
Madeleine has published numerous articles and papers and spoken extensively at conferences. Selected recent publications and conferences include:
- Site Remediation: The Ministry's Policy Dilemma, Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine, March 2008
- Asbestos - Old Substance, New Requirements, January 2008
- Workshop leader, "Safeguarding Patient Privacy & Confidentiality in Fast-Paced Clinical Environments," Canadian Society of Telehealth's 10th Annual Conference, Newfoundland, November 2007
- Environmental Law Bulletin, Ontario Record of Site Condition Liability Clarifications, October 2007
- "Contaminated Properties: Addressing the Gaps on Environmental Liability", Journal of Environment Law, Vol. IX, No. 4, July 2007
- Environmental Law Bulletin - Ontario - Bill 198 & Proposed Regulations - Commercial and Industrial Water Take Use Charges, April 2007
- Environmental Law Bulletin - Ontario - Contaminated Lands Proposed Regulatory Liability Amendments, April 2007
- Quebec Moves the Telehealth Yardstick Forward, Health Law in Canada, Vol. 27, No. 2, November 2006
- "Telehealth Legal Policy in Canada - A Void Waiting to be Filled", address to the 9th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Telehealth, October 17, 2006
- Regulating Telehealth in Ontario - Next Step in the Transformation Agenda, Health Law in Canada, Vol. 27, No. 1, August 2006 and in Telehealth Law, Vol. 6, No. 2, February 2006
- Sustainable Development Tools for Municipalities, Journal of Environment Law, Vol. IX, No. 1, August 2006
- Facilitating Brownfields Rehabilitation, Journal of Environment Law, Vol. VIII, No. 3, December 2005
- Common Privacy Mistakes, Privacy and Canadian Business, December 2004
- "Record of Site Condition, the Fundamental Clean-Up Document", presentation to Ontario Bar Association New Brownfields Law Seminar, October 2004
- "Occupational Health & Safety Due Diligence" client cross-Canada manager training seminar, August 30, 2004
- "PIPEDA," address to the Ontario Association of Career Counsellors Annual Meeting, May 7, 2004
- Privacy Law's New Deal, Financial Post, October 27, 2003
- "PIPEDA Overview, Private Sector Privacy Legislation", client seminar, July 8, 2003
- "Brownfields Statute Law Amendment Act 2001, Legal Issues for Municipalities and Property Owners," client seminar, June 26, 2003
- Meeting your Obligations for Privacy Compliance: Privacy Crisis - Tips for Surviving a Privacy Investigation and Avoiding Privacy Litigation, presentation at Canadian Institute conference, June 17, 2003
- "Remediation of Contaminated Properties May Become More Costly", Journal of Commercial Litigation, Vol. VIII, No. 4, 2002
- “The Liability of Environmental Consultants", Journal of Environment Law, Vol. IV, No. 3, 2001
- Director, Canadian Society of Telehealth
