The Daily UbuntuThread 04 · Climate and Our Relationship to the Land · September 25, 2026
A law to name what we breathe
Since 2024, a federal law has required Canada to study environmental racism and build a national strategy, expected in the fall of 2026.
1 · The scene
In a church basement, an information evening about a proposed transfer station. The plans scroll across the screen, and so do the numbers. In the third row, a teenage girl raises her hand: "But who lives right next to it?"
Silence. The developer answers that he will get back to them with the information. On the way out, three neighbours who never used to talk to one another exchange numbers. They don't know yet what they will do, but they know they will do it together, and that a good question can open a door.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
Bill C-226 on environmental racism
On June 20, 2024, private member's bill C-226 received royal assent. It took up a bill introduced in the previous Parliament by former MP Lenore Zann, which died on the order paper, then reintroduced by MP Elizabeth May on February 2, 2022. The Senate passed it without amendment on June 14, 2024.
The law's preamble recognizes that a disproportionate number of people living in environmentally hazardous areas are members of Indigenous, racialized or otherwise marginalized communities. The law requires the Minister of the Environment to develop a national strategy within two years. It must include a study of the links between race, socioeconomic status and exposure to environmental risk, data on the location of hazardous sites, and possible measures such as community participation in decision-making, compensation and the collection of health data.
A consultation on the draft strategy ran from June 26 to August 10, 2026, and the final version is announced for the fall of 2026. Naming a problem does not solve it. But it is the first step toward making sure the communities that live near the smokestacks and the dumps are finally counted, heard and involved in the solutions.
3 · The voice
“Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism.”
4 · The question
If we drew the map of nuisances in your region, whom would you want around the table to decide where the next one goes?
Sources
- Parliament of Canada, Bill C-226 (44-1), text as assented to, June 20, 2024. www.parl.ca
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, "Environmental racism and environmental justice," consulted September 2026 (French version). www.canada.ca
- Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), news release on Senate passage, June 14, 2024. cape.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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