Over the past year, Indigenous communities across Canada have faced a number of crises — from natural disasters to the poisoning of air and water supplies by industry. We spoke with Patty Hajdu about this tumultuous time.
Patty Hajdu says the First Nations Clean Water Act will be “another tool” for nations to curb environmental racism and protect their waters — but that Conservative actions in the House have only obstructed its progress.
The discovery that pollution from a paper mill is contributing to long-standing mercury poisoning afflicting the nearby First Nation is another example of how widespread and persistent the problem has become, federal MPs say.
The link between human rights, human health and an unhealthy planet is clear to us as physicians. The federal government must also make these connections.
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, like many Indigenous communities, disproportionately bears the brunt of climate change impacts despite having contributed minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Alongside the calls from First Nations communities have been the calls from physicians. They, too, see the effects of environmental racism, including for their patients.
A private member’s bill that would require the federal government to examine the links between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk passed third reading in the House of Commons Wednesday with the support of the Liberals, NDP and Greens.
MPs lambasted federal and provincial governments in question period Friday for failing to hold polluting corporations accountable in the wake of tailings leaks in northern Alberta.
Parliament has begun a lengthy winter break, but more than a hundred bills are still on the table and ready to be picked up when lawmakers return to Ottawa in late January.
What often gets drowned out in technical climate debates is the socio-economic relationship between fossil fuel projects and self-directed development opportunities for First Nations.