Canadians' new right to a healthy environment

The House of Commons recently passed landmark legislation recognizing the right of every individual in Canada to a healthy environment (catching us up with other UN member states). Not only that, Bill S-5 tasked our federal government with upholding the principle of intergenerational equity in the bill’s implementation.

We talked to a champion of the bill, Dr. Elaine MacDonald, about this overhaul of Canada’s most important environmental law and why it’s a big win for generational fairness.

“We need to be protecting the environment for all generations, including future generations. So it really instills a kind of long-term thinking into government decision making,” Dr. MacDonald said. “Even within existing generations…when they're assessing substances for regulation, they need to be thinking about all the generations that are currently here, from children to elderly people.”

Dr. MacDonald is Ecojustice’s Healthy Communities Program Director. She’s an environmental engineer who applies her expertise to work on air quality, water pollution, and toxic substances. 

You can also watch a video of the interview on our YouTube channel:

Learn more

• Our previous Substack article about Bill S-5

• Ecojustice: Working to bring CEPA into the 21st century

• Dr. David Boyd’s book, The Right to a Healthy Environment: Revitalizing Canada's Constitution (here’s an excerpt)

• Our climate solutions