Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2022-02-16 18:45:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich\u2014Gulf Islands, GP)",
        "fr": "Mme Elizabeth May (Saanich\u2014Gulf Islands, PV)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"6945135\" data-originallang=\"en\">Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to pursue a question I initially asked in question period late last year, on December 2, 2021. The question ended up with the <a data-HoCid=\"278923\" href=\"/politicians/joyce-murray/\" title=\"Joyce Murray\">Minister of Fisheries</a>. This topic that I am going to raise again tonight crosses several different departments federally. At its core, it is about environmental racism. It is about the illegal dumping of toxic waste on Mohawk territory. I cannot imagine any non-indigenous or non-Black community allowing it, but we do have an environmental racism problem in this country. I hope my private member's bill, Bill <a data-HoCid=\"11526067\" href=\"/bills/44-1/C-226/\" title=\"An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to assess, prevent and address environmental racism and to advance environmental justice\">C-226</a>, will be passed soon. It is a non-partisan effort to make sure the federal government adopts a strategy to deal with environmental racism, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has done for decades. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945136\" data-originallang=\"en\">To my specific example, this was part of my question on December 2:</p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"6945137\" data-originallang=\"en\"> On the Mohawk territories of Kanesatake, there is a toxic waste dump. It has been leaking harmful chemicals, and it also affects the wildlife and the fish. It is not as though the government has not said something about it. </p>\n</blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"6945138\" data-originallang=\"en\">There was a directive delivered to the toxic waste facility from the federal government on November 18, 2020, to call for the toxic waste site to be cleaned up and for the dumping of toxic waste to stop. I asked the government, \u201cCould the minister update us on what is being done to remove the toxic waste facility from Kanesatake?\u201d The answer came from the hon. <a data-HoCid=\"278923\" href=\"/politicians/joyce-murray/\" title=\"Joyce Murray\">Minister of Fisheries</a>. I think her answer was sound, but we did not have the details. The minister said that disposing of waste in this manner is dangerous to people, fish habitats and fish, and said, \u201cWe will hold any individuals who violate this act to account.\u201d As things progressed, it is clear that the illegal dumping continues.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945139\" data-originallang=\"en\">The Province of Quebec allowed dumping outside the confines of the specific permit that was given in 2015 for a recycling landfill, which is what it was originally licensed for. The Province of Quebec gave that permit to G &amp; R Recycling in 2015 and by 2016 the complaints had begun. They continued as residents nearby smelled toxic and nauseating fumes and became sickened by these fumes. Finally, in September 2020, the Province of Quebec revoked the licence. Again, as evidence of environmental racism, it was not until the black ooze from this toxic waste facility began seeping onto settler culture farms outside of the Mohawk community that the province took action.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945140\" data-originallang=\"en\">The federal government is still looking at this situation and the figures are just astonishing. This facility was licensed for storing up to 27,800 cubic metres of waste and it now has 400,000 cubic metres of waste, or 15 times what it was originally licensed for. This should not be tolerated. The community of Kanesatake is calling out for justice.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945141\" data-originallang=\"en\">Chief and former RCMP investigator, Jeremy Tomlinson, has said that these facilities are being built and people are paying to haul the waste away, but \u201cinstead of getting rid of it at a designated site, they\u2019re dumping it here. Think about it, they\u2019re building on land that was stolen from us and dumping on what little land we have left. People have had enough.\u201d I am hoping in the late show we can get to some solutions for this community.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"6945135\" data-originallang=\"en\">Madame la Pr\u00e9sidente, j'interviens ce soir pour revenir sur une question que j'ai pos\u00e9e \u00e0 la fin de l'ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re, le 2 d\u00e9cembre 2021, pendant la p\u00e9riode de questions. C'est la <a data-HoCid=\"278923\" href=\"/politicians/joyce-murray/\" title=\"Joyce Murray\">ministre des P\u00eaches</a> qui avait r\u00e9pondu. L'enjeu sur lequel je reviens ce soir touche plusieurs minist\u00e8res f\u00e9d\u00e9raux. \u00c0 la base, il s'agit de racisme environnemental et du d\u00e9versement ill\u00e9gal de d\u00e9chets toxiques en territoire mohawk. Je ne peux pas imaginer une communaut\u00e9 non autochtone ou non noire qui permettrait une chose pareille, mais le racisme environnemental est une r\u00e9alit\u00e9 au Canada. J'esp\u00e8re que mon projet de loi d'initiative parlementaire, le projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"11526067\" href=\"/bills/44-1/C-226/\" title=\"An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to assess, prevent and address environmental racism and to advance environmental justice\">C\u2011226</a>, sera adopt\u00e9 bient\u00f4t. Il s'agit d'une mesure non partisane qui obligerait le gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral \u00e0 adopter une strat\u00e9gie pour contrer le racisme environnemental, comme l'Agence de protection de l'environnement des \u00c9tats-Unis le fait depuis plusieurs d\u00e9cennies. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945136\" data-originallang=\"en\">Ma question du 2 d\u00e9cembre fournit un exemple pr\u00e9cis. En voici un extrait: </p>\n<blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"6945137\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Sur les territoires mohawks de Kanesatake, il y a un d\u00e9potoir de d\u00e9chets toxiques. Des fuites de produits chimiques nocifs se produisent, ce qui a des r\u00e9percussions sur la faune, la flore et les poissons, entre autres. Ce n\u2019est pas comme si le gouvernement n\u2019avait rien dit \u00e0 ce sujet. </p>\n</blockquote><p data-HoCid=\"6945138\" data-originallang=\"en\">Le 18 novembre 2020, le gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral a remis au d\u00e9potoir en question une directive exigeant le nettoyage du site de d\u00e9versement des d\u00e9chets toxiques et la fin de ce d\u00e9versement. J'ai demand\u00e9 ce qui suit au gouvernement: \u00ab La ministre pourrait-elle faire le point sur les mesures prises pour \u00e9liminer le d\u00e9potoir de d\u00e9chets toxiques de Kanesatake? \u00bb La <a data-HoCid=\"278923\" href=\"/politicians/joyce-murray/\" title=\"Joyce Murray\">ministre des P\u00eaches</a> a r\u00e9pondu. Elle a fourni une bonne r\u00e9ponse, je crois, mais nous n'avions pas les d\u00e9tails. La ministre a dit qu'\u00e9liminer les d\u00e9chets de cette fa\u00e7on constituait un danger pour les gens, les habitats du poisson et les stocks de poisson. Elle a ajout\u00e9: \u00ab Quiconque enfreindra cette loi devra r\u00e9pondre de ses actes. \u00bb Le temps a pass\u00e9, mais il est clair que le d\u00e9versement ill\u00e9gal continue.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945139\" data-originallang=\"en\">La Province de Qu\u00e9bec a laiss\u00e9 le d\u00e9versement de d\u00e9chets toxiques se produire \u00e0 l'ext\u00e9rieur des limites \u00e9tablies par le permis d\u00e9livr\u00e9 en 2015 pour un d\u00e9potoir de mati\u00e8res recyclables, activit\u00e9 pour laquelle le permis avait \u00e9t\u00e9 pr\u00e9vu. La Province de Qu\u00e9bec avait d\u00e9livr\u00e9 ce permis \u00e0 l'entreprise G &amp; R Recyclage en 2015, mais les habitants avaient d\u00e9j\u00e0 d\u00e9pos\u00e9 des plaintes en 2016. L'entreprise a poursuivi ses activit\u00e9s m\u00eame si les habitants des environs se plaignaient d'\u00e9manations nocives et naus\u00e9abondes qui les rendaient malades. Puis, en septembre 2020, la Province de Qu\u00e9bec a r\u00e9voqu\u00e9 le permis de l'entreprise. Voici encore une autre preuve de racisme environnemental. Ce n'est que lorsque de la boue noire provenant de ces d\u00e9chets toxiques s'est mise \u00e0 infiltrer le sol des terres agricoles des colonisateurs \u00e0 l'ext\u00e9rieur de la communaut\u00e9 mohawk que les autorit\u00e9s provinciales ont d\u00e9cid\u00e9 d'agir.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945140\" data-originallang=\"en\">Le gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral examine encore ce dossier, et les donn\u00e9es sont ahurissantes. Le site devait \u00eatre utilis\u00e9 pour y d\u00e9verser jusqu'\u00e0 27 800 m\u00e8tres cubes de d\u00e9chets, mais en il contient maintenant 400 000 m\u00e8tres cubes. C'est 15 fois la limite qui avait \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9tablie par le permis d\u00e9livr\u00e9 \u00e0 l'entreprise. Cela ne devrait jamais \u00eatre tol\u00e9r\u00e9. La communaut\u00e9 de Kanesatake demande que justice soit faite.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"6945141\" data-originallang=\"en\">Jeremy Tomlinson, chef et ancien enqu\u00eateur de la GRC, a d\u00e9clar\u00e9 ceci: \u00ab Des installations sont construites pour accueillir les d\u00e9chets et des personnes sont pay\u00e9es pour en disposer de la mani\u00e8re appropri\u00e9e. Cependant, des individus d\u00e9versent les d\u00e9chets chez nous, au lieu d'utiliser les installations pr\u00e9vues \u00e0 cet effet. Il faut r\u00e9aliser que des gens construisent des installations sur des terres qu'ils nous ont vol\u00e9es et d'autres d\u00e9versent des d\u00e9chets sur les petites parcelles de terre qu'il nous reste. Les gens en ont assez. \u00bb J'esp\u00e8re que le d\u00e9bat d'ajournement nous permettra d'examiner certaines solutions pour aider sa communaut\u00e9.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2022/2/16/elizabeth-may-2/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/elizabeth-may/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/4108/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "11529954",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Adjournment Proceedings",
        "fr": "Motion D'Ajournement"
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "The Environment",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2022/2/16/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2022%2F2%2F16%2F"
    }
}