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On Friday, Bill C-226 passed clause-by-clause, a major step in getting the legislation passed.

For more information on the bill, click here.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 17/06/2022 14:05:17
Context: Debate

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Madam Speaker, I want to start of course by acknowledging we are here on the territory of the Algonquin nation, and to it we say meegwetch.
I also want to acknowledge the hon. member for Red Deer—Mountain View had intended to speak to this bill. It is unfortunate technical glitches interfered with it, and I am sure he was about to support it wholeheartedly. In any case, we do not get the benefit of his speech and I regret that.

En commençant, je tiens à remercier quelques députés qui ont participé à ce débat dans la première heure et, aujourd’hui, dans la deuxième heure.

Je dis un grand merci au ministre de l’Environnement et du Changement climatique, à ma collègue et amie députée de Repentigny, à un autre ami très proche le député de Victoria, à mon ami le député de Lac-Saint-Louis, aux députés de Dufferin—Caledon, York-Centre et, pour aujourd’hui, mon cher ami député de Kitchener-Centre qui est aussi un député vert. Je dis merci aux conservateurs parce que ce sont eux qui ont donné l’opportunité aujourd’hui de faire un discours. Je remercie aussi les députées de Saint-Jean, de Nunavut et aussi la secrétaire parlementaire députée de Toronto—Danforth, ainsi que la députée de Vancouver-Est.

These were rich speeches; they gave us a lot.

Particularly, I want to thank my friend, the member of Parliament for Nunavut, for reflections on the bravery of Inuit hunters who were forced, due to the lack of environmental rights, and we can hardly imagine what it was like in February in Nunavut, it is not warm, to go out and take their places in civil disobedience on a runway to blockade a mine site because their rights were being violated. With only five minutes, I certainly cannot get into the full details on that effort, but I stand in solidarity with my friend, the member of Parliament for Nunavut, and the communities that have succeeded in persuading the Nunavut Impact Review Board to say no to a doubling of the iron ore mine on Baffin Island. I hope the Minister of Northern Affairs will act as he should and accept that advice.

There is so much to say about the bill and why we are here and where we are.

C’est un projet de loi pour prévenir le racisme environnemental, mais c’est aussi tellement important de souligner que ce projet de loi sert à faire progresser la justice environnementale.
As a feminist commentating, I just went back to make sure I had that right in French. I had not realized before that “le racisme” is masculin but that “justice” is féminin.

I should not digress from my digressions when I have a five-minute speech.
However, this is a critically important issue that we make progress—

Ms. Elizabeth May: Madam Speaker, Do I need to start over?
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes): No.

Ms. Elizabeth May: The importance of the bill and what I wanted to underscore is that it is operative.

Earlier today, of all coincidences, I was speaking at a conference marking the 40th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms at the University of Ottawa Law School with many brilliant people. I was not one of the brilliant people, but I was invited anyway. However, we were reflecting on 40 years of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and what was missing: What do we need going forward? There were perspectives on the need for socio-economic rights, that we address the enormous income inequality that is growing in Canada and globally, that we address the needs that we express in terms of human rights but also the rights that were missing from the charter, and so we spoke of the importance of addressing this gap through environmental rights.

I will note parenthetically that, Bill C-226, while being complementary to this right that we should have but do not yet have, we will not have this right if Bill S-5 passes and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act amendments do not create environmental rights as they should, but perhaps we can fix that through amendments.

What are rights without tools to enforce them? The environmental justice program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has, since 1994, created tools that can be used by communities, indigenous communities, people of colour communities, Black communities and low-income communities, who have been historically, and are to this day, deprived of a healthy environment, because they do not have the clout of white, wealthy neighbours. The tools are to hire a toxicologist, to hire an epidemiologist, and are so abbreviated and so well-known in the U.S.: the EJ program of the U.S. EPA, Environmental Justice. That is what we are here for.

The post A national strategy to assess, prevent and address environmental racism appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Since 2018, multiple media outlets2 have reported the suspected impacts on the health of local citizens and the water table caused by the G&R Recycling dump and similar spillover sites on Mohawk land in Kanehsatà:ke, Quebec. In 2021, a coalition of Indigenous Land Defenders and settler activists released findings and data revealed through FOI requests3 via their leak site: www.reconciliaction.org. Obtained data confirms that the site contains multiple toxins, long-term threats to water and fauna and that the federal government has known about this since 2019.

“Every level of government, from the Band Council to the Federal Government is practicing a well-rehearsed routine of passing the buck,” explains an Indigenous community activist whose name must be concealed for personal safety concerns. “The community has been frustrated with this issue for years now. And it has been consistently let down by the Government of Canada. This dump is part of a broader pattern of environmental racism, which is itself part of the colonial project of oppressing Indigenous Peoples. Minister Marc Miller has been purposefully indifferent. The Band Council has been equally apathetic and inept. The Province of Quebec has been equally complacent and useless. Their indifference verges on criminal neglect and prolongs our suffering.”

The coalition of Green and NDP MPs, along with allied civil-society organizations, is asking for a long-term solution to the dumping problem in Kanehsatà:ke. Beyond the immediate cleanup of the main site, they seek a legislative approach that recognizes the systemic issue of Indigenous and racialized communities being used as sites for the disposal of toxic waste in ways that mostly-white Canadian communities would never tolerate. Furthermore, at the request of the community’s Indigenous Land Defenders, allies are advocating for full community consultation before any further decisions affecting the health and well-being of Kanehsatà:ke’s residents are made.

“The overlap of toxic chemicals and hazardous waste dumping and Indigenous communities – as well as communities of people of colour and marginalized poor Canadians – cannot be denied. The on-going and illegal dumping on Mohawk territories in Kanehsatà:ke is one deeply troubling example,” observes Elizabeth May. “For three years, the community in Kanehsatà:ke has had their right to live in a healthy environment violated by the Trudeau government, whose representatives have refused time and again to take action in this matter,” adds Alexandre Boulerice, Deputy Leader for the NDP. “The Liberals speak often of climate justice and reconciliation, but every time it counts — like in Kanehsatà:ke — they’re nowhere to be seen. It’s time to go beyond the rhetoric and actually take action in issues of environmental racism.”

##

Available for commentary:

MP Elizabeth May (Green Party), contact: Debra Eindiguer, debra.eindiguer@greenparty.ca, 613-240-8921

MP Alexandre Boulerice (NDP), contact: Lisa Cerasuolo,
lcerasuolo@boulerice.org, 514-581-5288

Allied group campaign coordinator, contact: Louis Ramirez, louis.ramirez@protonmail.com, 514 974 5069

References:

1. Full list of allied civil-society organizations here: https://www.reconciliaction.org/groups-groupes

​2. The G&R facility has operated on the Mohawk reserve of Kanehsatà:ke for many years. It has been widely documented in the media, with two recent articles in the Toronto Star, as well as two recent articles in La Presse, and an award-winning exposé in Ricochet Media in September of 2020. Prior to this, articles from La Presse drawing attention to the issue date as far back as July 2018.

​3. Documents accessed through FOI requests accessible here: https://cryptpad.fr/drive/#/2/drive/view/D4ik9tXfxRczpPKB0mzmIlTzgW+xjLdqG7xmgDJoeMU/

​4. Full research synthesis on G&R facility available here: https://www.reconciliaction.org

-30-

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Introduction

Update: See Elizabeth’s submission to Environment and Climate Change Canada on the development of the National Strategy to Advance Environmental Justice and to Address Environmental Racism here!

The issue of environmental racism has a long history in Canada. The Sydney Tar Ponds on Cape Breton Island, with over one hundred years of pollution from the steel mill and coke ovens leading to the highest cancer rates in Canada, were adjacent to the only neighbourhood of people of colour in industrial Cape Breton, on land stolen from the local Mi’kmaq First Nation. Grassy Narrows experienced unheard of levels of pollution from Reid Paper leading to mercury contamination and inter-generational health issues. Indigenous communities, marginalized peoples and people of colour continue to experience higher levels of exposure to toxic chemicals.

Documentation of this situation can be found in Dr. Ingrid Waldron’s book, “There’s something in the water,” also a documentary of the same name by Professor Waldron and actor Elliot Page. Situations like the pulp mill at Pictou and its intergenerational impact have been campaigns by the Green Party for years. Elizabeth May and Maude Barlow’s book, “Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada’s Love Canal,” references this issue.

On June 20, 2024, Bill C-226 received Royal Assent – this marks the third Green private members bill to become law!

“Today marks a historic victory in our journey towards environmental justice,” said Elizabeth May. “The passage of Bill C-226 represents a commitment to addressing the long-standing and deeply entrenched issue of environmental racism in Canada. This legislation is a testament to the power of collective action and the importance of ensuring that all voices, especially those of marginalized communities, are heard and respected in our environmental policies.”

The bill’s passage represents work across party lines, from first sponsor former Liberal MP Lenore Zann, to Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to NDP critic Laurel Collins. The Green Party of Canada extends its deep gratitude to Dr. Ingrid Waldron a champion of this issue and key in achieving the bill’s passage. The bill’s sponsor in the Senate, extraordinary Indigenous Manitoba Senator Dr. Mary Jane McCallum performed procedural miracles. We extend deep gratitude to all the advocates, community leaders, and legislators who have worked tirelessly to bring this important issue to the forefront.

About Bill C-226

In the 43rd parliament, Elizabeth seconded former MP Lenore Zann’s Private Member’s Bill (PMB), Bill C-230: An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to redress environmental racism. Bill C-230 died on the order paper when an election was called in August 2021. Elizabeth re-introduced the bill as her own PMB in the 44th parliament, building on the work of MP Zann and environmental justice advocates.

Elizabeth’s Bill is now C-226: An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to assess, prevent and address environmental racism and to advance environmental justice.

Short title: National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act.

Read the bill

Elizabeth’s bill passed through the House of Commons in March 2023 and passed through the Senate in June 2024.

Please watch this clip of Elizabeth’s testimony to the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources delivered on March 19, 2024.

The climate crisis, environmental degradation and social justice issues are inherently interconnected. Racialized people are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and pollution. They must be consulted, respected, and their voices amplified as Canada moves towards a more equitable and sustainable society for all Canadians. This is not a new issue, and Canada is late to act.

The United States, through the Environmental Protection Agency, has had a well-funded Environmental Justice Program (EJP) since 1994.

“For more than three decades, [The United States has] had active programs to confront environmental racism while the term is hardly well-understood in our country.” Elizabeth May.

Click here to learn more about the US EJP

The US EJP website has information on environmental laws, options to report violations of those laws, and regional offices sensitive to local information. A Canadian EJP could be modeled after the American example.

Examples of Environmental Racism

Examples of environmental racism can be found across Canada, and across decades. Some examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Kanehsatake (Kanehsatà:ke) – Quebec

Since 2018, media has reported the suspected impacts on the health of local citizens and the water table caused by the G&R Recycling dump on Mohawk land in Kanehsatake, Quebec.

In 2021, a coalition of Indigenous Land Defenders and settler activists released findings and data showing that the site contains multiple toxins, long-term threats to water and fauna and that the federal government has known about this since 2019.

In 2020, the government issued a directive requiring the facility to be cleaned up. While the government has promised to hold any guilty parties accountable, the toxic dumping continues.

Watch Elizabeth’s question to the government on Kanehsatake (December 2021

A coalition of Green and NDP MPs, along with allied civil-society organizations, is asking for a long-term solution to the dumping problem in Kanehsatake.

Elizabeth explains the issue in Kanesatake

For more information on advocacy being done by more than 100 environmental groups to help Kanehsatake, and for evidence of the toxicity in the area, visit:

reconciliaction.org

2. Grassy Narrows First Nation and the Whitegog Independent Nations – Kenora, Ontario

There has been an everlasting mercury crisis in Grassy Narrows First Nation and the Whitegog Independent Nations. According to the United Nations Human Rights Council, from 1963 to 1970, a pulp and paper mill released several tons of highly toxic mercury into the water, contaminating the English-Wabigoon River system, including the traditional fish and game they depended upon. Mercury is fat-soluble, which results in the bioaccumulation and bioamplification of mercury across the marine food chain, and ultimately onto the plates of Indigenous peoples. Over 58% of community members examined have or are suspected to have Minamata disease, a serious neurological (brain) disease resulting from mercury exposure.

3. Pictou Mill / Pictou Landing – Nova Scotia

Northern Pulp (also known as many other companies over 50 years) is in Nova Scotia. Since the 1960s, the mill dumped millions of gallons of effluent per day into Boat Harbour, formerly the site of fishing and hunting and recreation for Pictou Landing First Nation. It was finally shuttered in Jan 2020 after failing to comply with environmental regulations and present a viable future plan for effluent. Northern Pulp has now demanded $100M from the province, which it claims represents the losses it has incurred because of the closure of the pulp mill in Pictou County. Northern Pulp is now applying to reopen.

4. Aamjiwnaang First Nations – Sarnia, Ontario

The health of the Aamjiwnaang First Nations is being disproportionately affected by environmental hazards in Sarnia, Ontario. Sarnia is also known as “Chemical Valley” because about 40% of Canada’s chemical industry is found there. The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (2017) stated, “There is strong evidence that the pollution [here] is causing adverse health effects, which neither the federal nor provincial government have properly investigated.” 

5. Lubicon First Nation Oil Sands – Alberta

The traditional territory of the Lubicon Cree covers approximately 10,000 square kilometres of low-lying trees, rivers, plains, and wetlands – what we call muskeg – in northern Alberta.

For three decades, this territory has undergone massive oil and gas development without the consent of the Lubicon people and without recognition of our Aboriginal rights, which are protected under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. (For a timeline of the Lubicon Cree’s land rights struggle, click here). Taken from article here.

6. Wet’suwet’en – Injunctions Against Indigenous Peoples – near Houston, BC

While Indigenous groups face ongoing challenges in accessing injunctions, courts are increasingly called upon to hear applications by industry proponents for injunctions to allow resource projects to proceed in the face of Indigenous opposition.

In a recent and highly publicized example, the BC Supreme Court granted Coastal GasLink Ltd. an injunction restraining members of Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders and supporters from blockading a portion of their territory to prevent the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.

The defendants, members of Dark House of the Wet’suwet’en, argued that their actions were carried out in accordance with Wet’suwet’en law and responsibilities to their territory. However, the Court concluded that the blockade undermined the “rule of law” and amounted to “a repudiation of the mutual obligation of Aboriginal groups and the Crown to consult in good faith.”

https://www.firstpeopleslaw.com/public-education/blog/a-monument-to-indigenous-environmental-racism-bc-doubles-down-on-site-c-dam

7. The Site C dam – Peace River, BC

The Site C dam builds on and perpetuates BC’s history of sacrificing Indigenous lands for short-term profit. The Site C dam, downstream of the WAC Bennett Dam, capitalizes on the destruction of Treaty 8 territory and the ongoing infringement of treaty rights. It will also cause additional, irreversible impacts on the lands and rights of Indigenous Peoples in Treaty 8 on both sides of the Alberta-BC border.

For a timeline of the Lubicon Cree’s land rights struggle, click here. Taken from article here.

8. Landfill in African Nova Scotian community – Shelburne, NS

The landfill in Shelburne contains industrial, medical and other types of waste and was regularly set on fire to incinerate junk for over 75 years before its closure. This article notes that “those near the dump worked, played and lived amid constant smells and smoke from burning garbage.” Despite being shut down in 2016 due to community efforts, cancer rates particularly in South End Shelburne are disproportionately high.

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Speaker: Ms. May

Time: 26/04/2022 18:03:36

Context: Debate

I am very honoured to stand here to present Bill C-226 at the first hour of its second reading.

I want to begin with a very heartfelt meegwetch and a recognition that we stand on the territory of the Algonquin Nation. It is their land.

I will take a moment to describe how we got to where we are today, because it is rare for a private member’s bill entering its first hour of second reading to have already had any parliamentary history at all, and this has a lot of parliamentary history.

I will start by saying that this bill received wide support under a different mover in the last Parliament as Bill C-230. It was moved by the then magnificent member of Parliament for Cumberland—Colchester, Lenore Zann.

Lenore was elected as a Liberal member of Parliament here, but she is quite a non-partisan individual. She also served with distinction in the legislature of Nova Scotia as a New Democrat MLA and has carried with her a concern for environmental racism for a long time. She did me the great honour in making this a non-partisan bill, and I am very honoured to have the hon. Chair of the environment committee as the seconder of this bill now. We wanted to make this a non-partisan effort from its very inception as Bill C-230.

Bill C-230, with the same title, is an act to address and assess environmental racism and move forward to environmental justice. It received support at second reading and actually got to committee. Amendments were made in the environment committee, and I adopted those amendments in Bill C-226 at first reading. So, what we have in front of us represents work already done by Parliament.

It is my deep hope and desire that all of us here, regardless of party, will find it in our hearts sometime in the near future to give this bill unanimous consent so that it can skip through stages that were already done, get it through and sent to the other place. It would then become law, and we can start working proactively to advance environmental justice. That is the hope with which I speak to members tonight.

I am grateful for the non-partisan support the bill already has, and members will hear that in the speeches that are coming up. We also know from a question that I put to the Prime Minister in question period that the government’s position is to support this bill, and so we feel optimistic that it will become law, but we would rather it was sooner than later.

I will now turn to the history. This is not a recent issue, and we are late to act. However, before I start on that, I need to dedicate this bill to the memory of a friend of mine: Clotilda Adessa Coward Douglas Yakimchuk. She was a magnificent woman, and a hero in the community. Her parents came from Barbados in the earlier part of the last century to work in the Sydney Steel Mill.

Clotilda was a proud Black woman. She was the first community activist with whom I ever worked on the issue of environmental racism. Clotilda Yakimchuk died just about a year ago today on April 15, 2021. She died of COVID. She was the first Black person to receive a nursing degree at nursing schools in Nova Scotia. She was the first Black woman to be the president of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Nova Scotia. She was aware of and fought against the pollution between the coke ovens of the Sydney Steel Mill, and the steel mill itself, and the high cancer rates in that community of Whitney Pier. When this bill becomes law, I hope people will remember that it is dedicated to the memory of Clotilda Yakimchuk.

One of the things I worked on in cleaning up the Sydney tar ponds with Clotilda is that we can recognize as a reality that toxic chemicals do not discriminate. They do not pay attention to the colour of our skin when they lodge in our body, when they pass through placenta to children, when they cause cancer and when they cause birth defects. They do not care the colour of one’s skin, but the public policy that puts indigenous peoples and communities of colour, who are far more frequently at risk of being exposed to toxic chemicals, does notice skin colour. It does notice when one is marginalized. It does notice whether one has money or not.

Therefore, it is absolutely the case in this country, with all of the evidence that we have of racism that cannot be denied. I know this bill makes people uncomfortable because, is there racism in Canada? Yes, there is. We just had a report today about the racism that repulses people as new recruits, out of our military. Every institution in our country experiences racism. Environmental racism is not something new.

Let me go through some of the history we have of that in this country. I am going to turn to books for a moment. The first book that really focused on this problem was in 1977 by one of Canada’s great journalists, Warner Troyer. The book is No Safe Place and it is the story of the contamination by the Dryden paper mill of the indigenous community at Grassy Narrows. We are still dealing with that mercury contamination.

Another book on the same topic of the mercury contamination of Grassy Narrows is A Poison Stronger than Love: The Destruction of an Ojibwa Community by Anastasia Shkilnyk. She was one of my constituents and, also in her memory, I bring this bill forward today.

In 2000, actually, I co-authored with Maude Barlow, who was then the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, the book Frederick Street: Life and death on Canada’s Love Canal, dealing with the issue that I mentioned and referenced. That is where Clotilda Yakimchuk and I first became friends. The contamination of the Sydney tar ponds led to the highest cancer rates in Canada. They were in industrial Cape Breton. The place that became the tar ponds was an estuary where the Mi’kmaq community had traditionally had summer fishing camps. The land was stolen, of course, and then became the worst pollution zone in Canada with the pollution from the coke ovens and the steel mill. In-between was a community called Whitney Pier, which was virtually entirely immigrant Canadians, including a lot of people from Ukraine. I mentioned Clotilda’s last name was Yakimchuk. Her husband Dan Yakimchuk was a steelworker from Ukraine. Whitney Pier is a melting-pot community. It is a fantastic place, but the cancer rates are through the roof. The land was stolen from the Mi’kmaq. They got the contamination too. So did the only Black community in Cape Breton. As Clotilda described it to me and that I had recorded in the book, it was impossible to find housing anywhere but in that community, so the racism was enforced. We did not have Jim Crow laws in Nova Scotia in the 1970s, but we might as well have because an experienced nurse who was Black, with her children having moved back from Grenada after her first husband passed away, could not get housing anywhere except in the most contaminated neighbourhoods. That is called environmental racism. That is what it is.

Therefore, we have a history here. Looking at the books, the most important without a doubt, the 2018 publication of Dr. Ingrid Waldron’s book There’s Something In The Water Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities has changed the conversation in Canada. That was fortified a year later when Dr. Waldron co-produced the film, with the brilliant Nova Scotia actor Elliot Page. They introduced people to this concept. That is part of the history.

Let us look at where else people have done anything on environmental racism. I have been a bit shocked and perturbed, as has been my friend Lenore Zann, by some of the social media reaction to us tabling this legislation as if we are kind of weird lefties and we made it up because we just want to make racism a thing. No, this is empirically established. We know this is true.

In 1994, the U.S. government took action because it was clear on the evidence that if someone lived in a community of colour or an indigenous community they were far more likely to be exposed to levels of toxic contamination that imperilled their health, the health of their children, their family, their neighbourhood, their community and also other people who were not of colour but were people who were marginalized. Therefore, it has to do with a bunch of different issues such as, if people who have power or money, if they live in Shaughnessy or they live in Westmount, nobody opens a toxic-waste dump in their backyard. That is the reality. In Canada, as in the U.S., if people are marginalized, without economic power, a person of colour or indigenous that is where they might be much more likely to be exposed to toxic contamination. The U.S. recognized this and since 1994, my dear friends, the U.S. government, through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has a program that is well resourced for environmental justice.

What does that justice look like? Putting the tools in the hands of marginalized people to fight for their own health, to make sure there is resources for epidemiologists, to make sure there is resources for toxicologists and to make sure that governments spend the money to clean up the mess. We are late in Canada. The U.S. took action. Again, hear me: the U.S. took action 28 years ago. This is not a new issue. We are late, so we need to get this bill passed.

We need to see environmental justice being championed in this country with a well-resourced program in environmental justice where we take our blinders off and say, yes, there is a thing. It is called environmental racism. We are not going to water it down and ignore it because it is still happening. It is happening today when they try to reopen the Pictou mill and reopen the contamination that so affected the people of Pictou Landing.

By the way, I see the minister of immigration in the room, so I am just going to give a shout-out to the hon. member for Central Nova for being the first federal member of Parliament from that area who was prepared to say this mill should close because the jobs are not worth the damage that has been done to boat harbour, the indigenous community of Pictou Landing and the neighbourhoods in Pictou, just to say that that is brave. They are still trying to open it again.

It is seen in Kanesatake where there is still illegal dumping of toxic chemicals in and around the community, the Mohawk community of Kanesatake. That should not be allowed. It would not happen in other communities.

We are looking still at Grassy Narrows and Sarnia, at the first nation of Aamjiwnaang. I invite colleagues from any party to go to Sarnia and visit the enclaves surrounded by petrochemical plants where the Aamjiwnaang first nation cemetery is. It is completely surrounded and the industry just got a two-year extension on cleaning up the sulphur dioxide from that refinery. That affect several cultural Canadians too, but in that community those toxic contaminants completely encircle Aamjiwnaang’s centre.

Look at the Lubicon and the oil sands that have contaminated the communities of Lubicon first nation now for long enough that we wrote about it in 2000 in Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada’s Love Canal.

We do not need to look far. We do not need to look back at deep history, but we do need to be honest about the fact that this is a pressing issue and requires action. It is a terrible shame. I am sorry to say it because Liberal colleagues are supporting this bill, so I say it without malice. It is a shame the election was called when it was because this bill, having gotten a lot of support, died on the Order Paper, so we are starting again.

I would really love it to see the bill go to the second reading for the second time. I know that my friend, Lenore Zann, who is here in Ottawa today as a former member of Parliament would love it. We would really love it. I am sure other members of every party in this place would appreciate that we do not need to take it to committee again and study it again. We cannot make the same amendments because this bill includes the amendments the committee made last time.

Let us do something for environmental justice. Let us stand up and say there is a better way to deal with the right to a healthy environment that we actually do not have in this country, to make it real to have a right to a healthy environment, so that every citizen regardless of the colour of their skin or their economic status, and in the case of indigenous peoples, the double horror of having their land stolen and then filled with toxic chemicals. This is not something that any parliamentarian should feel comfortable allowing to continue, so I really beg this of all my colleagues, regardless of party.

Je comprends bien que c’est un enjeu difficile particulièrement parce qu’il est question de racisme ou d’inégalités et c’est une question de mots. J’exige que tout le monde appuie ce projet de loi émanant des députés.

I have, I think, 35 seconds left so I just want to say again that this bill will be from all of us. This is not Green Party legislation. I mean, I am completely supported by my colleague from Kitchener Centre, but we do not want to own this. Collectively, all of our hands are on this baby. This bill will matter. It matters for environmental justice. It matters for our future. It matters for who we are.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 02/03/2022 15:11:48
Context: Question

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, in the last Parliament, Lenore Zann, former member for Cumberland—Colchester, introduced a landmark bill, Bill C-230, to develop a federal strategy for environmental racism and a move toward environmental justice.

The environment committee after widespread support in this place studied the bill and made amendments. I recently had the honour to reintroduce it as Bill C-226 in order to work toward getting the bill passed.

I ask will parliamentarians in the House work together to ensure passage of this important bill and will the government support the bill once again?

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question and want to also thank Lenore Zann, the former member for Cumberland—Colchester, for her important work on this bill in the previous Parliament. We know that the impacts of climate change are felt more acutely by marginalized and minority groups and the bill would ensure environmental racism is addressed and prevented.

I have mandated the Minister of Environment to develop an environmental justice strategy and our support for the bill is part of our plan to seriously address this issue.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 02/02/2022 15:25:33
Context: Introduction of Private Members’ Bills

I am very honoured to present this bill, and I want to take a moment to thank the member of Parliament who initially put it forward.

It is appropriate today to bring this bill forward as we begin February and Black History Month. This is a way to confront racism. Part of me thinks it is also appropriate to present it on Groundhog Day, because here we go again.

This bill was initially presented by the wonderful former member of Parliament for Cumberland—Colchester, Lenore Zann. Lenore did me the enormous honour of asking me, a member of Parliament from a different party, to second the bill when it first came forward in this place. The bill enjoyed widespread support, as members will remember. It cleared second reading and went to committee.

A lot of work has been done, and I want to keep this non-partisan. This is a bill that has enjoyed widespread support, and many members of Parliament are very keen to see it pass. I urge all colleagues to reflect on the fact that the United States and the Environmental Protection Agency for more than three decades has had active programs to confront environmental racism while the term is hardly well understood in our country. I look forward to working with colleagues across party lines.

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March 24, 2021

MP Elizabeth May (Saanich — Gulf-Islands), Parliamentary Leader of the Green Party of Canada, has introduced a bill to lower Canada’s voting age to 16.

A promise to reduce the federal voting age was one of multiple proposals for electoral reform included in the Green Party of Canada’s platform for the 2019 election.

“We know that people who start voting young tend to become voters for life. By including youth in the democratic process earlier, we can take a giant step towards a healthier democracy,” said Ms. May

“It flies in the face of fairness that 16 and 17-year olds are old enough to work — and pay taxes — while not being allowed to vote for the government those taxes are funding,” said Ms. May.

Ms. May tabled a similar bill in 2018 and joins MP Don Davies (Vancouver – Kingsway) and Senator Marilou McPhedran (Manitoba) in bringing forward bills to reduce the voting age during the current parliament. She looks forward to supporting whichever bill they are able to get to the floor of the House of Commons first.

Ms. May’s current version adds a Coming into Force provision that would give Elections Canada six months to implement the changes.

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For more information or to arrange an interview:
Debra Eindiguer
Chief of Staff
debra@greenparty.ca
613-240-8921

The post Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, tables Private Member’s Bill to Lower Canada’s Voting Age appeared first on Elizabeth May.