Environmental justice advocates are celebrating the Royal Assent of Bill C-226 on June 20, 2024. First introduced by former MP Lenore Zann, Bill C-226 – now known as the National Strategy of Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act – represents the Canadian government’s commitment to “providing impacted communities with the opportunity to participate in… finding solutions to address harms caused by environmental racism.”

The law requires the government to develop a national strategy within the next two years that includes a study of the relationship between race, socioeconomic status and environmental risk. The government must also explore ways to address environmental racism, including changes to laws and policies, compensation for affected groups, and allowing communities to participate in environmental decision-making.

What is environmental racism?

Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism in which Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities are disproportionately affected by environmentally hazardous projects and industrial sites. A 2020 report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxic Substances and Human Rights revealed a “pattern in Canada where marginalized groups, and Indigenous peoples in particular, find themselves on the wrong side of a toxic divide, subjected to conditions that would not be acceptable elsewhere in Canada.”

Examples of affected communities include:

Marginalized groups often lack equal access to health care and affordable housing, and bear the brunt of climate emergencies such as intense heat waves and pollution.

Professor Ingrid Waldron, founder of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities & Community Health Project (the ENRICH Project), notes that environmental racism refers not only to physical exposure to pollutants and contamination, but also to “the lack of political power that these communities have to resist the placement of these industries” in their vicinity.

In search of environmental justice

The passage of this bill speaks to the broader context of the already existing environmental justice movement in Canada. Grassroots organizing has been a critical part of galvanizing national concern about dangerous sites that impede the right of Indigenous, Black, and racialized people to healthy lives. Groups such as the Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice, Black Environmental Initiative, and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment have advocated for the Canadian government to acknowledge the reality of environmental racism and take action to address this injustice.

A call to action

Environmental racism impacts both people and nature. Diversifying the conservation movement is essential to finding solutions to the most pressing issues facing our communities and environment today.

Ontario Nature recognizes that protecting wild species and wild spaces cannot be achieved without the important contributions of Indigenous, Black and other racialized peoples. The people of Ontario must recognize the unequal impacts of pollution on marginalized communities and find ways to support progressive legislation like Bill C-226.

You can become an Advocate for Nature today and join a community committed to making everyone’s voice heard.

Alessi Remigio is a communications intern at Ontario Nature, completing her co-op internship in Humber’s Professional Writing and Communications program. Her passion for conservation stems from a deep curiosity to understand how society and culture shape our relationships with nature.