OTTAWA | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHNAABEG PEOPLE – Advocates for social justice and equity, environmental protection and public health are urging the Senate to prioritize and expedite the final vote on Bill C-226, Canada’s first environmental racism law. The Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Natural Resources and Environment approved the bill without amendment last week. This crucial legislation must not be delayed any longer.
Considerations of this legislation have spanned three sessions of Parliament since it was introduced by former Liberal MP Lenore Zann in 2020. In the current session, it was re-introduced by Green Party MP Elizabeth May and passed in the House of Commons with multi-party support in March 2023. It then moved the Senate where it now must pass a final vote before becoming law.
Advocates from across the country say it is time to pass the bill and begin the long-overdue work to develop and implement a national strategy on environmental racism and environmental justice.
Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate siting of polluting industries and other environmental hazards in or near Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities, and uneven access to nature and environmental benefits.
The legacy of environmental racism in Canada is well documented and can no longer be ignored. As the UN special rapporteur on toxics observed in a 2020 report to the Human Rights Council, “There exists a pattern in Canada where marginalized groups, and Indigenous peoples in particular, find themselves on the wrong side of a toxic divide, subject to conditions that would not be acceptable elsewhere in Canada.” It is time for Canada to take action on environmental racism.
Canada urgently needs a national strategy and accountability mechanisms to assess, prevent and address environmental racism and advance environmental justice, as proposed by Bill C-226. Addressing and redressing environmental racism is a moral imperative as the consequences it brings for the health and wellbeing of these communities are severe.
We therefore call on the Senate to prioritize and expedite the final vote on Bill C-226 as soon as possible. Canada must confront the impacts of environmental racism and advance environmental justice.
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Groups supporting this statement:
- Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice (CCECJ)
- Black Environmental Initiative
- Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
- David Suzuki Foundation
- Ecojustice
- ENRICH Project
- West Coast Environmental Law Association
For more information or a media interview, please contact:
- Ingrid Waldron, founder and director of the ENRICH Project and co-founder and co-director of the Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice, waldroni@mcmaster.ca
- Brendan Glauser, bglauser@davidsuzuki.org, (604) 356-8829
Background:
- Text of Bill C-226
- Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate siting of polluting industries and other environmental hazards in or near Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities, and uneven access to nature and environmental benefits.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as, “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys “the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to maintain a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.”
- More information about environmental racism is available on the ENRICH Project website.