In a Canadian first, the amendments recognize people’s legal right to a healthy environment
Ecojustice has united with Breast Cancer Action Quebec, Canadian Environmental Law Association, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Environmental Defence in a call for the full implementation of the 2023 Canadian Environmental Protection Act reforms.
In a Canadian first, the reforms recognize people’s right to a healthy environment. The groups’ call comes after the International Court of Justice released a watershed advisory opinion clarifying that countries are legally obligated to act on and prevent climate change-related damage to the environment.
A letter dated July 23 detailed the groups’ bid to Julie Dabrusin, minister of environment and climate change. Dabrusin’s department had recently released the “Implementation framework for the right to a healthy environment under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999” in line with Bill S-5.
The coalition of groups praised the framework but wrote that it would champion stronger laws guarding the right to a healthy environment; it would also seek to improve the framework as a tool to bolster CEPA action.
“In many First Nations and communities across Canada, the health impacts of pollution are evident every day. Industrial activities that release toxic substances have left a legacy of cancer, autoimmune conditions, hormone disruption, and mental health struggles,” said Jane McArthur, CAPE’s toxics program director, in a statement. “That’s why the right to a healthy environment matters and why it must go beyond words on paper. Physicians, their patients, and all people in Canada are counting on Minister Dabrusin to act now and use every available tool to uphold this right and protect our air, water, and soil.”
Moreover, the coalition expressed concern that under-resourcing would limit the environment and climate change ministry’s ability to implement the right and conduct critical work in this area. If key programmatic budgets are not renewed, the ECCC’s recent departmental plan predicts a 50 percent spending decline in the next two years, the groups wrote in the letter.
The groups called for the Chemicals Management Plan to be renewed with a focus on implementing the right to a healthy environment based on the Green Budget Coalition’s recommendation, maintaining the Plastics Initiative’s funding, and increasing the ECCC’s overall budget. They also urged the ministry to actively collaborate with the High Ambition Coalition to recognize Indigenous rights and the human right to a healthy environment in a new plastic pollution-centered international treaty realized through global restrictions on plastics production and consumption and through inclusive compliance and implementation mechanisms.
The groups also called for the setup of an Office of Environmental Justice in line with the upcoming National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice.
“With this final step in the integration of the right to a healthy environment into CEPA, I am calling on Minister Dabrusin to be a strong voice at the Cabinet table, upholding and advocating for the right of all individuals to a healthy environment as the Carney government moves forward with nation-building projects,” said Dr. Elaine MacDonald, healthy communities program director at Ecojustice.
