• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Canadian Environmental Racism Bill Addresses ‘Toxic Divide’

March 26, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes

Marcus Johnstone/flickr

Marcus Johnstone/flickr

 

Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, Ontario, is ringed by some 60 toxin-spewing petrochemical plants, more than any other community in Canada. That kind of environmental racism is the motivation for a private member’s bill currently before the House of Commons that calls for a national program to help communities measure the impacts they face.

“If passed, Bill C-230 would be the first legislation in Canada to require the federal government to collect statistical information on the location of environmental hazards across Canada, as well as the links between race, socioeconomic status, and health outcomes,” writes CBC News.

Aamjiwnaang Environment Committee Chair Janelle Nahmabin told CBC that while her Nation believes poor air quality is contributing to elevated asthma and cancer rates (local air monitoring stations have recorded unsafe levels of toxic chemicals like benzene), scientific proof is still needed. Having Bill C-230 on the books could galvanize the federal government to gather the data, she said. 

Introduced by Nova Scotia Liberal MP Lenore Zann with the support and advice of Ingrid Waldron, associate professor in Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Health, the bill would also require Ottawa to “compensate affected communities and ensure they are involved in future environmental policy-making.” 

The bill comes nearly two years after a United Nations special rapporteur declared Aamjiwnaang First Nation—along with many other communities living under the weight of a toxic legacy that has routinely plotted out inequitable access to clean air and water—to be victims of environmental racism.

“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,” writes CBC, quoting from the UN report.

“There’s something that all of these communities that I’ve looked at, and also the communities that I’ve met, share—they all have very high rates of cancer, high rates of rare cancers and respiratory illness,” Waldron agreed.

She stressed a key provision in the proposed bill that mandates research into the health impacts. “If they’re not giving credibility to the stories of community members, then we need the stats in order to back up what community members are saying.”

While Bill C-230 has received support from the NDP, Green, and Liberal parties, “there has been pushback from members of the Bloc Québécoisand Conservatives, who have dismissed the role of systemic racism and instead blamed failed government policies,” writes CBC.

Not so fast, say the 11,000-plus Canadians who have so far signed a recent petition in support of the bill, launched by the newly-formed National Anti-Environmental Racism Coalition. 

Naolo Charles, a Toronto-based environmentalist who co-directs the coalition alongside Waldron, urged politicians to think about the climate crisis and the communities it hits hardest—then vote for Bill C-230. 

“If now, Black and Indigenous communities are not well protected, what will it mean for the future when climate change will start having more impact?” he asked CBC.



in Canada, Climate & Society, Climate Impacts & Adaptation, COP Conferences, Demand & Distribution, Energy Politics, Environmental Justice, First Peoples, Health & Safety, Jurisdictions, Legal & Regulatory, Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion, Petrochemicals & Plastics, Water

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Bernard Spragg/flickr
Energy Politics

$12.3B in Profit over 3 Months as Big Fossils Reject Federal Emissions Cap

August 11, 2022
208
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons
Hydrogen

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts

August 11, 2022
234
Protect The Planet
Pipelines / Rail Transport

Trans Mountain Work Site Blocks Early Salmon Run on Coquihalla River, Local Observers Say

August 11, 2022
332

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Bernard Spragg/flickr

$12.3B in Profit over 3 Months as Big Fossils Reject Federal Emissions Cap

August 11, 2022
208
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts

August 11, 2022
234
Protect The Planet

Trans Mountain Work Site Blocks Early Salmon Run on Coquihalla River, Local Observers Say

August 11, 2022
332
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

August 2, 2022
1.5k
Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
746
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
451

Recent Posts

Focus Blame for Climate Change on Fossils and Governments, Ecoanalytics Advises

August 11, 2022
108
TheKurgan/Wikipedia

Ontario Pension Giant May Be Getting the Memo on Fossil Divestment, Members Say

August 11, 2022
33
@stan_sdcollins/Twitter

Stranded Communities Hope for Emergency Food Supplies as Newfoundland Wildfires Rage

August 11, 2022
14
Maurizio Pesce/Wikimedia Commons

Tesla Lobbying Points to Ontario as Possible EV Manufacturing Site

August 11, 2022
34
MENA/Flickr

Ontario Gains from U.S. EV Tax Credit, But Plans No Incentives for Local Drivers

August 11, 2022
37
Twitter

Shelling of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Plant Raises Fears for Nuclear Safety

August 11, 2022
32
Next Post
WikimediaImages/Pixabay

Growth of Canada’s Renewable Energy Capacity to Slow Through 2023

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}