Yes.
Evidence of meeting #25 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was health.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #25 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was health.
A video is available from Parliament.
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
I'll be as quick as I can.
When people think of rights, they think of the charter, for example, that the government cannot do this to you, those kinds of civil rights, etc. There are multiple ones, yet the right to a healthy environment, what does that mean, and are they at the same level?
6:20 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
Bill C-28 recognizes a right to a healthy environment under CEPA, and it's set out that there will be an implementation framework to delineate how that lens will be used in the administration of the act.
6:20 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Will the right to a healthy environment under CEPA only solely apply to the regulatory enforcement of CEPA?
6:20 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
It not only applies to regulatory enforcement; it would apply also to how policies are developed under that act, but the point is, it only applies to that act.
6:25 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
It's a limited right, or not even technically that.
6:25 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
Right.
6:25 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Usually rights are something that are all encompassing, but that's an opinion, so I won't push you any further on that front.
Dr. Waldron did say that often it is the decision-makers who have internal biases that make it difficult for them to be able to make recommendations, because they don't see the biases.
Will this bill require ECCC to hire consultants so that they have someone who is outside of those biases, or will this work be done by ECCC?
6:25 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
It doesn't require the hiring of consultants. I suppose unconscious bias is something we all have to work on, and you address that through your own training and awareness, but also through consultation and meaningful engagement of the people who are going to be affected by whatever it is you're doing.
6:25 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Canada is part of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Lots of Asian factories burn mercury to dispose of it. It doesn't happen in Canada, but it does happen, and it floats up into the stratosphere and ends up falling on the second-largest land mass in the world. A lot of that ends up getting into indigenous women. It gets into men as well, but at higher levels in women. ECCC did a very extensive study that they revealed last year.
If you have something like that happening, will you then say that this is happening and we need to make recommendations? Aren't you telling yourself that you have to do better on that? What happens if, again, Global Affairs is responsible for dealing with the convention? Do you then recommend that they do a better job? How does that work?
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
6:25 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
I would say that we're not unfamiliar. I mentioned gender-based analysis plus in bringing that kind of lens to the thinking, but certainly, as you say, it's a whole-of-government effort sometimes.
6:25 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Will your department hold other departments accountable?
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
6:25 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
Not under that act.
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
I don't want to put her on the spot, but I was hoping to ask Ms. Zann if she had any questions that she wanted to ask.
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
She's not on the.... This is a bit of a curveball, Mr. Bittle.
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
She's a member of Parliament, and she's here and can have my time.
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
That's true. I understand what you're doing. That's very gracious of you. Okay.
Ms. Zann, do you want to take some of Mr. Bittle's time?
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
Lenore Zann Liberal Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Thank you very much. That was unexpected.
I think we have to be careful here. If you take a look around, everybody on screen, including me, is white, and Dr. Waldron is saying there are unconscious biases, and that's why this bill, Bill C-230, is so important. It puts the focus back on the fact that racialized people have been treated differently in the past and we need to make sure that stops.
Also, I think we have to be careful not to say things like, instead of “Black lives matter”, “All lives matter”. This is a specific bill about race and about the fact that some people have been treated as less important than others. That's why we need to change the way things are done. I would like to make that point. I don't think the bureaucrats can answer that, but that's my two cents' worth.
Thanks.
6:25 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Thank you so much.
I know officials from ECCC briefly discussed it, but yesterday the government introduced legislation to strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, delivering on an important commitment. I was wondering if you could help the committee understand, or perhaps explain—I know you got cut off at the end—the linkages between Bill C-230 and Bill C-28, and how Bill C-28 could help address issues identified in Bill C-230.
6:30 p.m.
Director General, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Department of the Environment
If the amendments to CEPA that were introduced in Bill C-28 pass, then the Minister of Environment and Climate Change will be required to undertake research and studies, and the Minister of Health will be required to undertake research and studies, including biomonitoring surveys which could focus on vulnerable populations. That gathering of data and the requirement to gather that data, as I think your previous witnesses talked about too, are really crucial to understanding what the issues are and being able to come up with solutions that will work.
I think, as well, we have the right to a healthy environment. That's been recognized under the act, and in that, an implementation framework will be developed.
To the point of how important it is to have people involved in that, it has to be developed in two years. There will be consultation on that, so that we understand what's important to people in developing what a right to a healthy environment means under CEPA.
An implementation framework must address principles of environmental justice, which is obviously a broader term than environmental racism, but I think captures the intersectionality—