Green Party Leader David Coon says Bill 23, An Act Respecting the Right to a Healthy Environment, is intended to protect human health, including the health of children.
The proposed legislation would also establish the creation of an Environmental Rights Commissioner.
“People have no right to clean air,” Coon said, speaking with CHCO-TV, noting the clear air and water acts do not enshrine the right to a health environment, but set out the standards for the level of containments that are acceptable under the legislation. “How is that problem addressed? Right now, environmental legislation is aspirational.”
Still, Coon said, there is no right to clean air. He added that the commissioner would act as an advocate for the right to a healthy environment, including clean air and water.
“We’re talking about drinking water, breathing air, these are things that are essential for our health and wellbeing and with a lack of a right to those things, what we’ve seen is illness and impacts on communities that have not been positive,” he said.
In Eastern Charlotte, residents of Blacks Harbour and Beaver Harbour have been dealing with poor-quality drinking water for years.
The water supply is privately owned by a fish packing and processing company and an engineering firm says it believes deposits are forming in the water supply system through a chemical reaction.
In recent months, pressure has mounted on Eastern Charlotte to improve water quality.
“I saw one of the filters from the restaurant and it was not pretty to look at,” Coon said, adding the private ownership requires a significant draw on the water supply.
“The piping into the community is old and problematic and it is a mishmash of older pipes and somewhat newer pipes, none of that except for some of the distribution system … is all run by Connors Brothers, Bumblebee, that’s not right, there needs to be a separation between industrial supply and the municipal water supply.”
Coon said residents need assurance that the municipality is in charge of the water supply and that there is a solution.
“In those cases, it needs a partnership, a real strong one between the provincial government and the local government and its citizens to solve that problem,” he said.
The Clean Water Act broadly regulates environmental water quality, including drinking water. Municipal and provincially operated water systems are required to take samples for “specific parameters” within the list outlined in the Act.
If any of those samples exceeds the limits, it is subject to a health risk assessment, which could result in boil water orders or other directives to ensure the health of New Brunswickers.
According to Public Health, Blacks Harbour was under a five-week-boil-water order in 2023. It also experienced a four-day hour last year.
Beverly Gingras, executive director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB), said Bill 23 is an important piece of legislation for New Brunswick.
“Right now, the people of New Brunswick don’t have a right to a clean environment. It’s probably shocking,” she said, speaking with The Courier.
Gingras said New Brunswick has the framework to establish an Environmental Rights Commissioner, noting the Advocate, Kelly Lamrock, as well as the Office of the Ombud.
“There’s different offices that already exist, and they’re there to make sure that the government is being held accountable,” she said. “The commissioner would be there to see what the government is doing in terms of complying with the rights under this bill.”
She said Blacks Harbour and Beaver Harbour are a prime example of why the bill and the commissioner are needed.
“I think that that’s one example of issues where there doesn’t seem to be any accountability,” she said, noting the Act would include a provision to allow New Brunswickers to take their environmental concerns to court.
Gringas explained industry could be concerned about this, but if there was a commissioner, it could filter through that individual first to determine how to move forward.
“This act is a way for the public to be able to hold the government to account in a real, meaningful way that might actually make some changes,” she said.
Bill 23 passed first reading at the Standing Committee on Law Amendments and will return to the Legislative Assembly in the coming months.
Environment Minister Giles LePage said it will be debated and when the bill was first introduced he was seeking clarity on whether the commissioner position would enhance the confidence that the government is complying.
“I haven’t seen those answers yet,” he said. “But that will be debated between the Greens and us and their stakeholders and we’re still looking at that.”
LePage said he would not commit to the bill because it has only passed first reading. He added that the Liberal government is also involved in the water quality issue in Blacks Harbour.
“Our main focus is to ensure that the residents get good quality drinking water,” he said, adding it cannot intervene to assist in the legal issue between land owners and the municipality on searching for a new water source.
Fundy-The Isles-Saint John-Lorneville Progressive Conservative MLA Ian Lee has also called on the Liberals to help the municipality ensure the residents in his riding have access to clean drinking water.
Meanwhile, Coon said he hopes he can be a part of helping move this forward and ensuring, at the provincial level, the government is taking the necessary actions.
