The City of Toronto lies along an important migratory bird route that brings birds from Central and South America to Canada’s Boreal Forest each spring — and back again in the fall. There are many hazards along the way, but one of the most significant is the reflective or mirrored windows of office buildings. Birds are commonly confused by the reflections of blue skies and trees in windows, which leads to severe injury or death. It is estimated that each year up to one million birds die in collisions with Toronto buildings.
In 2010, Ecojustice, on behalf of Ontario Nature, filed a private prosecution against Menkes Developments and several related companies. We alleged that Menkes had caused the deaths of hundreds of migratory birds between 2008 and 2009 — these birds died after striking windows at Consilium Place, a three-tower office plaza owned by Menkes.
Menkes et al were charged with violating Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act for discharging a contaminant that causes or is likely to cause harm to birds. They were also charged under the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
After the charges were brought, the property owner began installing films intended to prevent birds from colliding with highly reflective windows. But at the end of the trial, an Ontario Justice of the Peace dismissed the charges that reflected light from Consilium Place caused the death or injury of hundreds of birds. Ontario Nature appealed the decision in 2012.
Both defence lawyers and Crown agreed that the appeal should be granted because the Justice of the Peace failed to provide intelligible reasons for his decision. The case did not return to trial because we filed a second lawsuit against Cadillac Fairview, Podolsky v. Cadillac Fairview Corp.
This second case resulted in an Ontario judge setting a significant legal precedent that protects migratory birds from lethal collisions with the highly reflective windows.
In February 2013, Judge Melvyn Green of the Ontario Court of Justice found that hundreds of birds, including threatened species, had been injured and killed at Cadillac Fairview’s Yonge Corporate Centre during spring and fall migrations in 2010.
Judge Green ruled that Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act prohibit reflected light from building windows, which fatally attracts birds. However, the court acquitted Cadillac Fairview and related companies of the charges because they had begun to address the problem.
