Jane E. McArthur is toxics campaign director with the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). Jane has a Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Justice and her work over the last 30 years has been in communications, research, and advocacy on environmental and occupational health issues.
The legal right to a healthy environment and environmental justice is fundamental as we work towards a future of improved environmental and human health.
In a historic move, the United Nations Human Rights Council recently voted in favour of recognizing the right to a healthy environment. This right has already been recognized by 156 countries. Canada is not yet one of them.
Leading environmental and health groups in Canada are calling on all federal parties to prioritize CEPA modernization in this session of Parliament and to pass a strengthened bill before the end of the year.
To address climate change, toxic exposures, and environmental racism, it's time to get out our crayons, connect the dots, and bring the bigger picture of planetary health into view.
Canada's cornerstone environmental protection law hasn't been updated since 1999, and modern-day exposures, including those in some workplaces, are inadequately addressed under the legislation in its current form, write Atanu Sarkar and Jane McArthur of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
Jane McArthur, toxics campaign director with the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, sits on the edge of half a century on this planet, but as a mother of two, can't help feeling like she shouldn't have to do this job.
While ongoing delays feel like the same old story for Canada's main environmental law, we cannot let this setback spell the end of Bill C-28, write Larry Barzelai and Jane McArthur of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
