Thank you for the question.
It's great to see you as well.
I have to say, to hear these different situations is heartbreaking. It shows us that for so long too many communities across Canada have been treated like second-class citizens. Perhaps some of these communities you've mentioned are lower economic status communities, where they were considered not as important as some of the wealthier populations. This is certainly something that has been going on, not just in Canada but around the world.
It is not the intent of this bill to leave those people out. In fact, I think they should definitely be included when it comes to protections against pollution of all sorts. If you look at a map of any given area, I believe it will show you that the majority of communities that have been profiled are going to be racialized communities because unfortunately they have been treated like the lowest of the low and they need to be given the exact same respect as white Canadians.
Unfortunately, racism does exist and there are many examples.