Defending the rights of Chemical Valley residents – Charter Challenge

We believe all Canadians have a right to breathe clean air and that governments have a responsibility to protect people and communities from unsafe levels of industrial pollution. The unjust distribution of the country’s pollution burden and, the impact for Aboriginal communities like Aamjiwnaang, has both health and human rights implications.

We are concerned by the Ontario government’s practice of assessing each source of air pollution individually to determine whether emissions fall within safe limits. Instead, Ron and Ada believe Ontario should assess cumulative impacts in pollution “hot spots” like Chemical Valley by evaluating overall air quality to determine whether a new source of pollution would raise emissions from all sources to an unsafe level.

What does this outcome mean?

Immediate, on-the-ground change is desperately needed in Chemical Valley and other pollution hot spots in Ontario.  That’s why we are putting down one tool and picking up another — changing course, at least for now, from litigating to working with Ada, Ron, and the Aamjiwnaang community to ensure that Ontario’s new initiatives lead to durable community solutions.

Working with Ada and Ron has deepened our commitment to advancing the recognition and protection of the basic human right to a healthy environment — including clean air, safe drinking water, and a stable climate.  When we first launched this case, few people in Canada had an understanding of what “environmental rights” were.  Five years later, a groundswell of public support has led more than 130 municipalities, representing a third of Canada’s population, to pass declarations in support environmental rights.

This is remarkable progress. Recognizing the right to a healthy environment is the natural next step in the progression of human rights law in Canada, and we look forward to seeing Canada’s governments take action on this front in the coming months and years.