QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Health
Environmental Justice
February 9, 2022
Minister Duclos, exposure to toxic substances is a public health issue and an environmental justice issue.
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment welcomed Bill C-28, which was introduced last year, but it is calling on the government to do more.
A bill was introduced in the Senate today, Bill S-5, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, to make related amendments to the Food and Drugs Act and to repeal the Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Virtual Elimination Act. Have you held any further consultations since Bill C-28 was introduced? What improvements can we expect in the new bill? As Minister of Health, what are you doing to address the environmental injustice that disproportionately affects the health of Indigenous peoples and racialized people?
Senator Galvez, I will get back to you about the more specific and relevant aspects regarding Bill C-28.
However, I can tell you that I very much appreciate your question. It is an excellent one. I appreciate the link you made between people’s physical and mental health, the health of the physical environment, meaning the natural environment that nourishes us and sustains us, the health of the economy — we now know how connected people’s health is to the health of the economy — and the health of our society. The health of our society includes reducing inequality, poverty, vulnerability and marginalization. All this goes hand in hand in a society like Canada, which is always striving to be better. So I commend you, and I thank you for making this important link between all these aspects of health. I promise to get back to you later on Bill C-28.
