SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Oct/19/22 3:04:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the past seven years, we have demonstrated that we know full well that the economy and the environment must go hand in hand. That is why we are investing unprecedented amounts in this energy transition. That is why we are helping to decarbonize our energy sources. That is why we are putting a price on pollution across the country. We want to make sure that industries and businesses make the investments needed for us to reach our 2030 targets and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. We will continue to be a leader on the environment because it is good for the economy.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Oct/19/22 5:07:01 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I think there are many aspects of the legislation that really would improve our environment going forward. One of the things I think is quite interesting is the whole issue of labelling of toxic products. That is something that, from what I understand, is being expanded upon, and I am wondering if the member could provide her thoughts in regard to the importance of labelling. From a personal perspective, I believe it is something that is really quite encouraging, and I hope to hear more feedback on that.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Kyle Seeback (Dufferin—Caledon, CPC)

Oct/19/22 5:08:21 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her speech. I enjoyed working on the environment committee with her. One thing she talked about in her speech is that there were consultations for five years on this bill, so it has already taken five years, but with respect to the right to a healthy environment, the government is now saying it is going to take two more years to determine what the right to a healthy environment means. I find that incredibly troubling, that it is dragging its feet so long on this. I wonder if the member shares those concerns or would like to comment on that.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Ms. Laurel Collins

Oct/19/22 5:08:52 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question, and I also enjoyed working on the environment committee with him. Yes, the delay is extremely troubling. It has been 20 years since the last time the Canadian Environmental Protection Act was updated, and it has been five years since we received recommendations from the environment committee. To now have a longer timeline is unacceptable. What is truly unacceptable, though, is to put forward a right to a healthy environment that cannot be enforced. That is what the government has done. What we want is to protect Canadians, the ecosystems, the environment, the air, the land and the water. This is vitally important, and we need to do it right.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Ms. Laurel Collins

Oct/19/22 5:10:16 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for her question, for her work and for the motions she has put forward to protect watersheds and fresh water around Canada. I really appreciate her bringing up the motion that the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay has put forward, because it is an environmental rights bill. To just put it in the preamble of this update to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act is not the same thing. To talk about the right to a healthy environment is not the same thing as having a broad approach to making sure that across government this right is being protected. It is also not the same thing as ensuring that the mechanisms we have to enforce that right, to protect Canadians, are in place. I hope the government will look at the bill presented by the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay, but I also hope it will reconsider and open up the section on citizen enforcement, so that we can protect Canadians and the right to a healthy environment.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mrs. Jenica Atwin (Fredericton, Lib.)

Oct/19/22 5:11:31 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I know my hon. colleague is such a passionate advocate for the environment, especially now that she is a mom and looking forward to the future generations. Of particular interest in New Brunswick is the issue around the aerial spraying of herbicides and pesticides. I wonder if she would care to comment on that specifically.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Ms. Laurel Collins

Oct/19/22 5:11:51 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question and also for her work on this issue. I know she has put forward motions to address this. It is a concern also in British Columbia, so it absolutely is something that needs to be addressed. We need to take strong action to ensure companies are not putting toxic chemicals into our environment that then enter our bodies. If we are thinking about our children and future generations, this is critically important to address.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP)

Oct/19/22 5:35:26 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his work chairing the environment committee. It is a pleasure working with him. The member spoke about receiving lots of correspondence about the right to a healthy environment. The first people who came to me about the right to a healthy environment were Franny and Rupert. They started advocating for this in 2014 when they were seven and 10 years old. Now, eight years later, they are still incredible environmental advocates, and they want to see a strong right to a healthy environment. One of the ways the government could do that is to open up the section on enforcement and ensure that there is a strong citizen endorsement policy, and one that is not broken the way the current one is. I am curious about the member's thoughts on ensuring that the right to a healthy environment can be enforced.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia

Oct/19/22 5:36:19 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her ongoing focus on enforcement. As some members of the House may know, the member had the environment committee study enforcement. I agree that enforcement is really the name of the game. It is an issue that is more general than related to the right to a healthy environment. I believe that the right to a healthy environment is incorporated in many pieces of environmental legislation. However, we must remember that the right to a healthy environment is not a constitutional right but a right within a law that can be changed depending on the government. The right to a healthy environment exists through the Impact Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act and through legislative instruments the government has to protect the environment. That right is pervasive, and enforcement should always be a focus of the government.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

Oct/19/22 5:39:29 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, I have a question for the member opposite about this right to a clean environment. Most of the rights that we have in Canada are what are deemed to be negative rights, to be free from something. This is more of a positive right. How do you see that working out over time as the government has not really fleshed this out and will leave it to regulation? What is your thinking on where this is going to go?

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia

Oct/19/22 5:40:03 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, by requiring the government create a framework for defining and implementing the right to a healthy environment, the bill opens the conversation with stakeholders. Through the discussions, I think we will see that idea become more tangible and concrete, and one can no longer close the door on this idea. It is out there, and it will continue to inform policy, legislation and regulations.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia

Oct/19/22 5:41:05 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, the discussion on the right to a healthy environment has been taking place for quite a while now. There have been debates about it in the House. However, a formal process of consultation injects rigour into the process and will lead to some tangible recommendations. That is where the difference is. We are focusing the discussion now. We are funnelling the discussion, and that will move us forward on the issue.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Arnold Viersen

Oct/19/22 6:07:46 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, here we are, once again seeing these trade-offs that we have to make. We want to ensure that we have a healthy environment, but we also want to ensure that we have a healthy economy. In some cases, allowing consumers to make their own decisions on a lot of these things would ensure that we can get to where we need to be on many of these things. We have to take Canadians along on the journey. I know the fight to end acid rain was a trying fight, but it was one worth fighting and there are no disagreements in Canada around that anymore. I hope we can tackle some of these things specifically, and we will come together on them, for sure.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Arnold Viersen

Oct/19/22 6:09:53 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, yes, I agree with the hon. member that I do not think we can trust the government to get it right. I know the Liberal members were hopeful. I would tell them to make a definition of what they deem to be toxic and maybe put out a schedule of toxins. That would have been nice to see. They could have defined the “right to a clean environment” and put that in the bill. Then we could be debating that. I am certain that I would not agree with the government, because it is generally playing politics with this kind of stuff.

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Context: House Hansard - 113 - Oct/19/22

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Oct/19/22 6:41:35 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-5

Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the right to a healthy environment, which obviously we support. I come from a coastal community. I can tell the House what it is like in coastal communities today. People cannot go anywhere without finding expanded polystyrene littered and broken apart along coastal shores, whether it be in coastal British Columbia or in Atlantic Canada. We know there are alternatives to expanded polystyrene that can be used which the government is not enforcing. The same member supported my Motion No. 51, which called on the government to regulate polystyrene in marine environments and reduce it, but the government has not done anything. I am hoping my colleague will come forward with what the government is going to actually do to tackle polystyrene in marine environments and end this environmental disaster that is taking place. It is impacting our food systems, the environment and the ecosystem that absolutely relies on a healthy environment. I hope my colleague and his government will finally take real action in banning polystyrene from being used, especially in industrial use and marine environments.

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