OTTAWA (CU)_Canada’s federal lawmakers voted on a bill on Wednesday (24 March) to collect data on the disproportionate impact of polluting industries and landfills on racial minority communities.
The bill aims to tackle “environmental racism”, where racial minority communities, such as indigenous and Black communities, are exposed to higher levels of air pollution, contaminated water and other pollutants.
For instance, the indigenous Grassy Narrows First Nation community, in the province of Ontario, have suffered health impacts from chemical elements produced by a former pulp and paper mill since the 1960s.
Similar cases have been reported by racial minority communities in the United States as well, which led President Joe Biden to sign an executive order in January pledging to tackle the issue.
“For too long, people just didn’t realize that some people were being exposed to more toxins than others simply because of the colour of their skin,” Lenore Zann, a Liberal Party parliamentarian and the Canadian bill’s sponsor, told Reuters.
“It’s time that we address that and change our behaviour as a society.”
She noted that collecting data on this issue, particularly the locations of environmental hazards and levels of health problems faced by residents in those areas, will enable lawmakers to create policy recommendations to address them.
However, during the debate on the bill on Tuesday, Canada’s opposition parties claimed that PM Trudeau’s government itself has failed act on threats of pollution.
According to Indigenous Services Canada, a government agency, although the Canadian government has lifted more than 100 long-term advisories, however, of the 58 that are still in place, 38 are found in First Nation communities.
Conservative Party parliamentarian Eric Melillo claimed that the Liberals’ record in tackling the issue has been merely “all talk”.
He urged the government to prioritise practical steps such as cleaning up water in these communities, and investing in infrastructure and technology which would enable indigenous people deal with the impacts of climate change.
