We’ve drafted a letter (below) that you can use to report incidents of environmental racism to the federal government, who has committed to preventing, assessing, and addressing environmental racism and injustice under the National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act. Scroll down to find the link to access the letter, along with tips on how to complete and submit it.
Incidents that could be considered environmental racism can include:
- Failure to uphold procedural justice, which requires the government to, when contemplating conduct (such as developing new environmental laws/policies or approving resource extraction projects) that may impact your rights and interests, provide notice of the decision being contemplated, disclosure of information required for you to understand your rights and how they may be impacted, opportunities to participate and have your concerns heard and addressed, and support to participate (ex. translation services, participant funding). If you are from an Indigenous, racialized or otherwise marginalized community, your continued exclusion from environmental decision-making could be considered a form of environmental racism.
- The approval of projects close to your community that are environmentally hazardous (such as mines, landfills, factories and other polluting industries) and increase your risk of negative health impacts (ex. because of exposure to toxic substances)
- Lack of clean drinking water and sanitation services (access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a human right that, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur, can be violated in Canada when extractive activities like mining increase toxic contamination of water sources that supply First Nation communities)
- Inequitable or inaccessible physical and mental health services
- Increased incidences of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people (the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found that resource extraction projects can exacerbate violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, largely due to issues related to transient workforces)
Learn more about environmental justice here and register at enviroequity.ca to be notified of upcoming consultation opportunities regarding the National Strategy.
Tips when completing the letter:
- When summarizing the incident, provide as much information as possible, including the location. For example: A facility nearby, operated by ______ in the city of _____, was granted permission to emit harmful pollutants above the legal limit.
- When explaining how you became aware of the incident, explain if you directly saw it, if/how you heard about it, if it was in your community or if you are concerned about another community, etc.
- When explaining the impacts of the incident, speak to how you/your family/your community/those located in close proximity to the environmental hazard are being disproportionately impacted. Be specific, for example: My community is being disproportionately exposed to harmful air pollutants, putting us at greater risk of negative health impacts.
- Do not include any personal or confidential information, other than your own name and email address
- If you need assistance, reach out to us at info@naturesdefence.ca
Instructions:
- Open the letter here (the letter should open in a new tab on your web browser)
- Complete the letter by filling in the text boxes
- Click the ‘print’ icon in the upper right hand corner
- Check to make sure the ‘Destination’ says ‘Save as PDF’
- Click the ‘Save’ button in the bottom right corner
- Save the letter to your computer
- Send an email to the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change (julie.dabrusin5@ec.gc.ca) and their Environmental Justice Strategy Team (EJ-JE@ec.gc.ca)
A. Subject line: “Reporting an Incident of Environmental Racism”
B. Body: “Please see attached letter regarding an incident of environmental racism.”
C. Attach the PDF letter
The information contained in this post and template letter is legal information only. It is not legal advice nor a replacement for legal advice.