For years, researchers, activists, community leaders have shown how Indigenous, Black and other racialized groups have been disproportionately affected by polluting industries. Now, a new law will require the federal government to better track this injustice, and aim to correct it.A playground near the Aamjiwnaang First Nation band office in Sarnia, Ont. Residents complained of illness in connection with high levels of chemicals from a nearby plastics plant.
"There is no doubt that Canada has had a problem with environmental racism for decades, and taking action is now required," May told a news conference earlier this week. The legislation, she said, means two things happen: "you get to hold government's feet to the fire" and, secondly, "it creates much more transparency now there's much more pressure for them to do something."often point to the experience of Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek First Nation, known as Grassy Narrows, in Ontario as one of the most glaring examples of environmental racism, and the disproportionate impacts on racialized communities.
Judy Da Silva, environmental health co-ordinator for Grassy Narrows First Nation, says years of inaction and 'environmental racism' are behind the lawsuit against Ontario and Ottawa. George said his experience with the Canada Energy Regulator and other energy-sector review bodies made him feel like the fossil fuel industry was prioritized over the concerns of First Nations.pointed to "a pattern in Canada where marginalized groups, and Indigenous peoples in particular, find themselves on the wrong side of a toxic divide, subject to conditions that would not be acceptable elsewhere in Canada.