Hamilton-rooted coalition sees healthy environment as basic ‘right’
The law, at its best and in theory, holds together with a kind of precise, interlocking logic. At its less than best, and in practice, it can put things in the wrong order.
So it is that in Canada while we have an important array of human rights protected under the constitution, we have not yet enacted legislation to ensure what is arguably our most fundamental human right: To have the basic conditions of health and living guaranteed; to be assured that we will not be poisoned by our very environment without redress in the law on human rights grounds.
That is a sine qua non - a without which nothing" necessity - if I ever saw one. You can have all the free speech in the world but if you can't breathe the very air you live in, best of luck airing your opinions. Canada has put the cart before the horse, so to speak, or rather the charter before the hearse, of environmental neglect.
Kristian Ferreira, who studied law at the University of Leeds in England and now works for a Toronto firm, knows this as well as anyone.
It is his driving passion right now, to ensure that the right to a healthy environment is recognized in law and in practice in Canada."
To that effect, he, Dr. Peter Wood (former David Suzuki Foundation campaign manager) and other partners in their cause, have just launched the Coalition for Environmental Rights.
Ferreira, a Hamiltonian and Westdale Secondary/McMaster graduate, says, While this could be accomplished via an amendment to the Canadian constitution (Charter of Rights and Freedoms), we recognize that there are multiple paths to achieve our goal."
Among those paths are strategic litigation and judicial reference.
Ferreira's interest in the issue is, first and foremost, existential - environmental protection under the law, as a human right, comes down to our very survival, but it is also deeply rooted in a passion for law and a thirst for equity and social justice.
The truth is, he says, as do others in the coalition, that environmental dangers do discriminate. They are often appreciably worse in the areas where marginalized and vulnerable populations live. They disproportionately affect Indigenous communities, black Canadians, women, the disabled and the impoverished, says Ferreira.Think of mercury poisoning, for instance, in Indigenous communities.
The environment affects us not only as individuals but in communities and we should have a right to understand what's happening," says Ferreira, who is a member of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. We have a right not to be harmed by pollutants, we have a right to have access to information about the chemicals around us."
Ferreira and the coalition are pushing for changes, through constitutional amendment and other means, that would recognize environmental equity (government assurances that all communities receive equal protection from environmental hazards and that marginalized, vulnerable and/or racialized communities, including future generations, are not disproportionately harmed."
They are also pushing for, among other things, recognition of a polluter pays" policy with respect to cleanups and compensation; the empowerment of people to have a say in environmental decision-making; access to information and to the courts; the government creation of a watchdog," an independent body to help ensure the implementation of and adherence to environmental rights legislation, increasing government transparency and accountability.
It is such a Canadian' thing to do," says Ferreira, of the enshrining of environmental safety as a basic human right, and yet, he adds, Canada is one of only a few countries who don't have such a provision.
Out of the 190 or so countries in the UN, Canada is one of only about 20 which doesn't have this," he says.
The coalition has already received support and endorsement from many organization, such as Amnesty International, Black Environmental Initiative, The ENRICH Project, Breast Cancer Action Quebec, the Women's Healthy Environment Network the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Enviromuslims, Ontario Black Doula Society.
A part of the coalition's campaign is pushing for the passage of Bill C-28, before Parliament now, to strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act by, among other things, recognizing the right to a healthy environment.
Kristian Ferreira, if the name sounds familiar, is one of the three Ferreira brothers of Hamilton - Kareem recently was featured on The Spectator front page for his fine art (he did a painting for LeBron James of NBA fame). Eldest brother Kyle, owner of Bar Sazerac on James North, is a renowned Ontario bartender.
For more information about the Coalition for Environmental Rights, visit the website at environmentalrights.ca
Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jmahoney@thespec.com