Bill C-226 tabled last fall by the returning leader of the Green Party of Canada would help address and prevent environmental racism across the country.
The bill was first introduced by former Liberal MP Lenore Zann in the last session of Parliament. It was approved by the House of Commons environmental committee before dying on the order paper when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a snap election and Parliament was dissolved.
Zann previously introduced a Private Members’ Bill known as the Environmental Racism Prevention Act while serving as an NDP Nova Scotia MLA. The bill didn’t make it past second reading debates without support from the Liberal government led by then-Premier Stephen McNeil. Zann would later cross the aisle and join the Nova Scotia Liberal Party before running for federal office.
The concept of environmental racism refers to the disproportionate impacts pollution and other environmental hazards have on Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities. From high cancer rates to respiratory illnesses and reproductive diseases, the consequences of environmental racism are wide-ranging, effectively carrying on the legacy of colonization.
Bill C-226 is also known as An Act Respecting the Development of a National Strategy to Assess, Prevent and Address Environmental Racism and To Advance Environmental Justice.
Environmental racism is the key theme behind the Elliot Page documentary There’s Something in the Water. The title comes from a book by Dalhousie University professor Dr. Ingrid Waldron, who participated in the production of the film currently streaming on Netflix.
The 2019 film follows Page as he returns to his home province of Nova Scotia to expose the ramifications of environmental racism. Page visits a Black community near Shelburne where contaminated well water has contributed to higher rates of cancer.
The documentary also highlights the struggles faced by Indigenous communities in the province who have been affected by water pollution, and the fight to prevent a gas company from releasing salt brine into a local river.
How race, socio-economic status, and environmental risk connect
For Waldron, who co-founded the Canadian Coalition for Environment and Climate Justice (CCECJ) and serves as a co-director, Canada’s legacy of environmental racism can no longer be ignored.
“We have the stories on environmental racism in Canada but we need more data at the national level to help Canadians better understand the issue. Bill C-226 will allow for this data to be collected,” Waldron said in a June press release.
“People’s health and well-being are really impacted by environmental racism. The consequences of inaction are real now, and they will be worse in the future if we don’t do anything about it,” Waldron added.
Bill C-226 would require the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to develop a strategy to combat environmental racism by examining the connections between race, socio-economic status, and environmental risk.
In addition to reviewing the enforcement of environmental laws in each province, Bill C-226 would also allow possible amendments to federal laws, policies and programming to address environmental racism.
Part of the appeal of Bill C-226 is that it involves community groups in environmental policymaking.
It has been endorsed by several civil society groups, including the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and the David Suzuki Foundation. Advocates are also calling on the federal government to expedite the passage of the legislation as soon as possible.
Environmental racism and poor health outcomes
Dr. Jane McArthur, the Toxics Program director at CAPE, testified in front of the Environment Committee during their study of the bill.
Among the adverse health impacts related to environmental racism, McArthur says they can range from different types of cancer, to respiratory illnesses, reproductive issues, birth anomalies, asthma, diabetes, and a range of mental health concerns.
One of the key elements to Bill C-226, according to McArthur, is the requirement to put in place and fund an Office of Environmental Justice.
McArthur explained that environmental racism has been around as a lived reality much longer than society has had a definition for it.
Growing up in Windsor, ON, McArthur learned at a young age about toxic exposures in the community, on the border of Detroit, MI. She went on to follow in the footsteps of her parents, who were occupational health and safety researchers.
“I was aware of the impacts of toxic exposures, and air pollution and industrial emissions in my community,” McArthur said. “And as I became more aware and learned, I recognized the combination of systemic racism along with those industrial environmental exposures.”
In her early days of studying, McArthur began examining the connection between environmental exposures and increased rates of breast cancer suffered by many of the racialized women working at the Ambassador Bridge, one of the busiest border crossings into Canada.
“The reality is that the people in the neighborhoods around the bridge were racialized and
suffering adverse health outcomes,” she said.
After taking on her role at CAPE, McArthur was asked to sit on the CCECJ, with much of her
efforts focused on supporting Zann’s federal bill. She’s worked with the CCECJ and Waldron,
who helped Zann craft the legislation, ever since.
“The time for action is now and we are hopeful that this bill will pass in spring of 2023,”
McArthur said. “Canada talks about itself as a country of kindness, but we need to have that
reflected in our policies.”
“Often the way that we conduct research, it can ignore the experiences and the truths that the people in harm’s way know and experience,” she said. “So if we’re not asking the right
kinds of questions, we’re not getting the data we need.”
McArthur pointed out that Canada is poised to include the right to a healthy environment,
solidifying that right for the first time in the country’s history. But without further action, the rest is just lip service.
“If Canada is truly committed to upholding the principles of the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, if we’re truly trying to get at truth and reconciliation, we need to be addressing this and calling it what it is — which is colonization,.” McArthur concluded.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
