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Follow-up petition on the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment
Petition: No. 163B
Issue(s): Air quality, human health/environmental health, international cooperation, and water
Petitioner(s): David R. Boyd
Date Received: 12 December 2006
Status: Completed
Summary: The petitioner is asking for further clarification and specific answers to his original questions on whether the Government of Canada recognizes that Canadians have a right to clean water, clear air, and a healthy environment. In his previous petition, the petitioner contended that, due to widespread environmental pollution, the right of Canadians to clean water, clean air, and a healthy environment is being violated. The petitioner had also asked the government to confirm these rights and to make them explicit in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Federal Departments Responsible for Reply: Environment Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade—Department of [2006-present], Health Canada, Justice Canada—Department of
Petition
30 November 2006
Johanne Gelinas
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Office of the Auditor General
240 Sparks Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G6
Re: Supplementary Petition on The Right to a Healthy Environment
Dear Johanne:
I submitted a Petition (No. 163) to your office on January 31, 2006 asking a number of questions regarding the Government of Canada's position on the right of Canadians to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy environment. The Government of Canada's response, dated June 2, 2006, outlined various policies and programs but did not explicitly answer the first and most fundamental question posed by the Petition, namely "Does the Government of Canada recognize that Canadians have a right to clean water, clean air, and a healthy environment?" The response implied, but did not explicitly state, that the Government of Canada does not recognize that Canadians have the right to live in a healthy environment. In contrast, the Government of Canada was much more forthright in responding explicitly to Petition 163's Question No. 6, stating that Canada does not recognize an international right to clean water and explaining the rationale.
Therefore I am filing this Supplementary Petition seeking a simple yes or no answer to the question: Does the Government of Canada recognize that Canadians have a right to clean water, clean air, and a healthy environment? A detailed explanation of the reasons behind the explicitly affirmative or negative response is welcomed.
To put these questions another way:
- Does the Government of Canada recognize that Canadians have a right to clean water, clean air, and a healthy environment, yes or no?
- If yes, why, and if no, why not?
I look forward to receiving the Government of Canada's response to these questions. However I would also like to request, for reasons of fiscal prudence and environmental conservation, that no correspondence associated with this petition be sent using courier services. Canada Post's regular mail is preferable.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Respectfully,
[Original signed by David R. Boyd]
David R. Boyd
Trudeau Scholar, University of British Columbia
Adjunct Professor, Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University
Research Associate, POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria
1321 MacKinnon Road, RR1
Pender Island, BC
V0N 2M1
Tel: 250-629-9984
Email: davidrichardboyd@yahoo.com
Joint Response: Environment Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade—Department of [2006-present], Health Canada, Justice Canada—Department of
11 April 2007
Mr. David R. Boyd
1321 MacKinnon Road
R.R. 1
Pender Island, British Columbia
V0N 2M1
Dear Mr. Boyd:
Please find attached the Government of Canada's response to your environmental petition to the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development regarding Canadians' right to a healthy environment. The petition was received by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on December 21, 2006.
My Department has collaborated with Environment Canada, Health Canada, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to prepare a joint response to your question. I submit this response to you on behalf of the government, along with the letters of concurrence from my colleagues from the other departments.
Thank you again for raising this very important issue.
Sincerely,
[Original signed by Robert Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]
Robert Nicholson, P.C., M.P.
JOINT RESPONSE FROM THE DEPARTMENTS OF JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PETITION SUBMITTED BY
MR. DAVID R. BOYD
CONCERNING CANADIANS' RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
Question 1: Does the Government of Canada recognize that Canadians have a right to clean water, clean air, and a healthy environment, yes or no?
Response:
In our response to your original petition, we demonstrated the Government of Canada's commitment to ensure access to clean water, clean air and a healthy environment through our ongoing legislative and policy initiatives. The question you have posed in your supplementary petition does not lend itself to a clear "yes" or "no" answer. The concept of a "right" is complex and has wide-ranging social, economic, political and legal implications. Insofar as your question seeks legal advice, we would remind you of our response to your original petition that the Department of Justice does not provide legal advice to the public. We would also reiterate that the Government of Canada does not require the formal recognition of a right as a prerequisite to taking action to ensure Canadians have access to clean water, clean air and a healthy environment.
There have been several important new developments over the past few months; the Government has announced a number of significant initiatives as part of its new environmental agenda, including:
- Bill C-30, Canada's Clean Air Act, to strengthen the legislative basis for taking action on reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases, to increase accountability through enhanced monitoring, reporting and enforcement and include enhanced efforts to address problems with indoor air as well as air pollutants from consumer products.
- A series of program initiatives to support the regulatory framework, including the ecoEnergy Initiatives to boost clean energy supplies, help Canadians use energy more efficiently and reduce emissions from conventional energy sources.
- A Notice of Intent to regulate, among other things, industrial emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions and establish short- medium- and long term targets.
- Regulations that will require an annual average renewable content of five per cent in gasoline by 2010, and $345 million to assist farmers and rural communities in seizing new market opportunities in the agricultural bio-products sector.
- A Chemicals Management Plan to protect the environment and human health from toxic substances through new regulations under CEPA 1999 and other Acts, using initiatives such as a challenge to industry to identify controls and restricted uses.
Budget 2007 announced $4.5 billion dollars in spending on the environment. This spending includes the $1.5 billion trust fund for clean air and climate change which provides provincial and territorial governments funding for projects that will result in real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. In addition, the budget commits $407 million to protect Canada's natural heritage and $416 million on a national water strategy for Canada's freshwater and oceans.