Between now and 2025, the federal government has many environmental promises to fulfill. The new Liberal-NDP supply agreement and confidence agreement provides us with the stability that we need to ensure those promises are kept.
Although the Liberal-NDP agreement has been criticized by some, we as environmental health advocates are optimistic that their shared priorities on health and climate can translate into meaningful, progressive action on environmental justice. We are hopeful that this agreement will remove any obstacles to a better and greener future.
There have been many excuses given as to why we can’t get stronger environmental health and justice protections — at a time when Canada is falling behind the U.S. and global initiatives to tackle the injustices that disproportionately impact racialized, Indigenous and low-income communities. The NDP and Liberals already have a common position on a variety of environmental and justice issues. This is the time to stop making excuses for inaction, and to use the stability provided by the agreement to get it done.
These five actions, which are related to environmental justice, should be improved and implemented in this new era.
Bill S-5 Strengthen Canada’s cornerstone environmental law, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and provide meaningful recognition of the right to a healthy environment, prioritize the prohibition of toxic substances, assess cumulative risks to environmental and human health, apply timelines for assessments of toxic substances and “safer substitution” and force companies to disclose hazardous substances instead of hiding behind “confidential business information.”
Bill C-226 Encourage cross-party support. Fast track An Act Respecting Development of a National Strategy for Assessing, Preventing and Addressing Environmental Racism. We must prioritize data collection and take swift action to address the legacy of environmental racism, such as industrial pollution and hazardous waste disposal.
Plastics Addresses the adverse environmental and human health impacts of plastic products in the cradle-to-grave cycle — from extraction to production to disposal. To address the climate-changing, toxic plastics problem, we must eliminate harmful exposures to plastics at all stages of life.
PFAS Bring forward comprehensive prohibition on this class of “forever chemicals” contaminating our water, soils and food.
Product labelling To protect our health — and particularly children, women, racialized and low-income communities — we need mandatory labelling and health warnings of hazardous ingredients in our cosmetics, cleaning products and furniture.
These issues will require a focus and dedication beyond the ministerial and departmental silos over the next three years. These issues can be addressed with the help of a federal Office of Environmental Justice.
Liberals and NDP have the opportunity to align their environmental justice agendas, and take meaningful action on justice and environmental issues. We believe this agreement will bring about the fulfillment of our promises on environmental protection, health promotion and illness prevention, as well as a just transition.
Cassie Barker is the toxics senior program manager at Environmental Defence. Jane McArthur is the toxics campaign director for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.