Across the country, we physicians are seeing the effects of an unhealthy planet in the communities we serve. At the same time, the federal government is asking people to contribute to the implementation framework of the right to a healthy environmentrecently recognized under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (STRAIN).
The opportunity is significant. The government must seize the moment and act to solve environmental, health and justice problems in a holistic and systemic way that prevents future harm.
As physicians, we see the harm people in our communities suffer from the toxic exposures they face and the resulting illnesses. We know that people’s health is an indicator of their environment and other social factors. Therefore, a framework to implement the new law must go beyond research and monitoring and become urgent action.
We see the harm to health and well-being caused by the inequities of disproportionate location and increased exposure of Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities to polluting industries and environmental hazards across so-called Canada. Indigenous peoples already face multiple barriers to supportive and equitable health care, and toxic exposures represent a particularly problematic and disproportionate impact that violates their rights.
In Akwesasne, on the borders of Ontario, Quebec and the United States, the population of the Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) First Nation is subjected to toxic industrial pollution upstreamincluding polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have been shown to be linked to thyroid dysfunction, reproductive health harms, cancers, autoimmune diseases, mental health disorders, and more.
In northern BC, Fracking activities are connected. to childhood leukemia, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders and respiratory diseases, in addition to the violation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In Quebec, municipalities struggle to address the widespread situation PFAS contamination in their drinking water sources, and cannot complete the costly “decontamination” cleanup needed to protect their communities’ water from highly toxic substances linked to kidney and liver cancers, reproductive harm, and other diseases.
In southern Ontario, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, surrounded by Chemical Valley, where plastics and emissions from the petrochemical industry fill the air and watersheds, the toxic exposures are related to high rates of cancer, leukemia, birth defects, learning disabilities and a skewed sex ratio.
In northern Alberta, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation exhibit to tar sands tailings ponds has significantly impacted their ability to exercise their inherent and treaty rights, with negative impacts on the mental health of indigenous peoples and local communities.
The link between human rights, human health and an unhealthy planet is clear to us as doctors. The federal government must make these connections too, write Ojistoh Horn and Melissa Lem @CAPE_ACME #healthybynature #EnvironmentalRacism #cdnpoli
In northwestern Ontario, many Anishinaabeg communities along the Wabigoon River system have faced chronic illness. mercury exposure discharged from the Dryden pulp and paper mill, 100 kilometers upstream, causing profound neurological, social and economic costs to these communities.
To address these and other violations of people’s right to a healthy environment, we, as doctors, know that the new right must drive preventive and precautionary decisions that consider people whose health conditions are related to their environment. He Calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission include reporting of health disparities, and environmental exposure data should be part of this.
By prioritizing action on the most harmful exposures and pollution and recognizing industrial practices that are harming people and the planet with their toxic impacts, we will see better health in the most affected communities and better opportunities for children. When we protect the most vulnerable, we protect everyone.
Measures on bans and pollution prevention must be imminent and timely, strict implementation is necessary, and cases of violation of the right must be identified and addressed. “Pollution hotspots” should be prioritized for early implementation of the right, and ongoing research and analysis should be conducted to continue to inform implementation. The federal government must fulfill its duty to protect people through a rights-based approach that ensures that the right is adequately protected and prioritized against competing considerations that are not rights.
The link between human rights, human health and an unhealthy planet is clear to us as doctors. The federal government must also make these links at this critical time for environmental rights in Canada.
Dr. Ojistoh Horn is a Mohawk/Haudenosaunee woman who works as a family physician and serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).
Dr. Melissa Lem is the president of the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Environmental Physicians and a Vancouver-based family physician who also works in rural and northern communities.