Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Minister, thank you for being here, as the COP15 is getting underway and you surely have a lot to do.
My questions are on the right to a healthy environment.
As you certainly know already, the UN called on all states to take bold measures and recognize the legal right to a healthy environment. The bill we are studying today introduces this right, to a certain extent, in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. However, the bill includes it in the legislation’s preamble, which does not carry the same weight as including it in the body of the text. For example, in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, this right is specifically included in one of the articles.
Do you think that adding this right to the legislation’s preamble corresponds to what the international community is currently calling for?