✘ Bill C-219, Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights

Bill

Bill C-219, An Act to enact the Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights and to make related amendments to other Acts

Vote

Nay.

Rationale

Although Bill C-219 shares our same goal of recognizing the right to a healthy environment in federal law, it differs from the current Government approach, such as integrating procedural rights like public participation into specific environmental statutes as is made possible through CEPA. This not only creates uncertainty as to how Bill C-219 and CEPA would interact, but it can also result in policy coherence issues and challenges when it comes to the interpretation of/with other federal statutes. Overall, this Bill is not well-aligned with CEPA, which recently received Royal Assent, or Bill C-226 (Environmental Racism). I would consider supporting a similar Bill that addresses these inconsistencies and uncertainties and is better aligned with the government’s overall environmental strategy.

Failed.

Bill Status

Bill defeated