Canada’s Environmental Protection Act is getting a makeover, in what the federal government is calling renewed, updated legislation.
The proposed CEPA reform, Bill S-5, Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act, was introduced on February 9 by Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault.
Bill S-5 will modernize the 1999 Canadian Environmental Protection Act, while making additional amendments to the Food and Drugs Act.
A February 9 release from the federal government noted that CEPA has been used to “prevent microbeads from entering our water, ban asbestos, and prohibit the use of BPA (bisphenol A) in baby bottles.”
“All Canadians expect and deserve a healthy environment,” Guilbeault told reporters during Wednesday’s announcement. “This bill is a big step towards strengthening the protection of Canadians’ health and the health of the lakes, rivers, lands, and forests we all love.”
Guilbeault added that Bill S-5 is one of the federal government’s top legislative priorities, while calling on “all Parliamentarians to work together to see this bill passed into law for Canadians as soon as possible.”
For Senator Stan Kutcher, who sponsored Bill C-5, the move will “help us all become better stewards of our environment, making Canada a better place for us and the generations that follow.”
Making a healthy environment a human right
The bill will “introduce the right to a healthy environment for the first time in a federal statute in Canada,” while “emphasizing the protection of vulnerable Canadians who may be more predominantly exposed to harmful chemicals.”
The updated CEPA legislation would require the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to annually report on the implementation of a framework for governments to protect peoples’ right to a healthy environment.
The revised bill would also “require that risk assessments consider real life exposure to the cumulative effects of substances on Canadians or the environment,” while also creating a new publicly available “Watch List” of substances Canadians should avoid. It would also move to “reduce, refine, or replace the use of animal testing.”
As part of Bill S-5, the federal government would renew their commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
For Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, the revised bill will continue strengthening CEPA, while updating the legislation to reflect the “science on chemicals and their effects on human health.”
For NDP environment critic, Laurel Collins, the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect Canadians from toxic substances.
Collins, who serves the constituency of Victoria, warned that the proposed bill “has limitations on the right for Canadians to have a healthy environment, and there are significant loopholes and weaknesses that are of serious concern.”
“We are concerned that this bill will allow government to make politically motivated decisions that override the scientific evidence when it comes to dangerous substances,” Collins warned. “If we actually want to protect the environment, we must follow the advice of scientists and environmental experts — not the advice of big corporations.”
“The Liberals have made a lot of empty promises about protecting the environment and fighting climate change. But when it comes down to it, they fail to act,” she noted.
NDP tables bill to put people over CEOs in mitigating climate crisis
On February 8, New Democrats also introduced legislation of their own, calling on the federal government to put people first, rather than lining the pockets of the CEOs and shareholders.
During a press conference, Churchill–Keewatinook Aski MP Niki Ashton introduced a private member bill, An Act to amend the Canada Infrastructure Bank Act. Ashton noted the Liberals must demonstrate a sense of urgency, in the wake of “the record heat waves, droughts, flooding, and other extreme weather conditions” that have resulted in the loss of homes, communities, and ultimately lives to the climate crisis.
According to the NDP, the bill would “change the mandate of the Canada Infrastructure Bank by making the fight against the climate crisis its priority,” by delivering support and resources to already marginalized communities disproportionately at risk of suffering negative impacts of climate change, “such as Indigenous and Northern communities.”
The NDP wrote that Bill C-245 “will put public interest ahead of the profits of the ultra-rich by allowing Canada to leverage public investment and public ownership in the fight against climate change.”
Ashton’s bill would remove “the part of the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s mandate that allows it to seek out private investment in the interest of rich CEOs,” while encouraging the federal government to “fund public projects that foster climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
The bill would also require more transparency, through a provision of regular updates to determine its efficacy.
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), endorsed the plan by New Democrats, saying Canada’s Infrastructure Bank is “being used to privatize infrastructure through private-public partnerships that do not work for workers or communities.”
She said the bank should instead eliminate private, for-profit investment and focus on climate mitigation.
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