SoVote

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Feb/16/22 4:13:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and with some urgency that I present this petition. These paper petitions are coming in large numbers from Ottawa residents who are concerned about the logging and destruction of the trees within Queen Juliana Park. The park was established to recognize the sacrifice of the 7,600 Canadians who died in the liberation of the Netherlands. It also serves as the home of popular traditional Algonquin powwows, it being the territory of the Algonquin peoples. The loss of the forest in this very popular urban-area park in Ottawa would allow for 17 acres of parking, including a four-storey parking structure. It opens the door to development within Ottawa, which is very worrying to the petitioners. Over 8,000 people have signed petitions. The one I am presenting today has 117 additional signatures. The raison d'être for all this destruction is the decision to reject the recommendation of the National Capital Commission to have the new Ottawa Hospital located at Tunney's Pasture and to instead move it to this different location, which includes a great deal of the Experimental Farm, which has also provided green spaces until this development decision. In summary, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to restore the National Capital Commission's original recommendation to build on Tunney's Pasture as the ideal location, to preserve Queen Juliana Park and the entire Central Experimental Farm as green spaces and to support the request for a public inquiry as to why the NCC's recommendation was set aside so quickly and without transparency.

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Context: House Hansard - 32 - Feb/16/22

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Feb/16/22 6:49:56 p.m.
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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 Minister of Fisheries. 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 C-226, 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. To my specific example, this was part of my question on December 2: 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. 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, “Could the minister update us on what is being done to remove the toxic waste facility from Kanesatake?” The answer came from the hon. Minister of Fisheries. 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, “We will hold any individuals who violate this act to account.” As things progressed, it is clear that the illegal dumping continues. 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 & 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. 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. 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 “instead of getting rid of it at a designated site, they’re dumping it here. Think about it, they’re building on land that was stolen from us and dumping on what little land we have left. People have had enough.” I am hoping in the late show we can get to some solutions for this community.

575 words

Context: House Hansard - 32 - Feb/16/22

Ms. Elizabeth May

Feb/16/22 6:57:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, if only any of that was true. I have great respect for the parliamentary secretary, but the illegal dumping is continuing. The whole tenor of the parliamentary secretary's answer was not to worry as there is nothing to look at here. We have illegal dumping continuing. The dump site itself has been closed, but there are constant reports of illegal, late-night dumping near the homes of people in the Mohawk community. There also needs to be a cleanup. It probably will cost in the neighbourhood of $35 million. We need to get on with it. Yes, I know Environment and Climate Change Canada is well aware of this issue. As the parliamentary secretary said, it has been aware since 2019. As the people of this community are saying, enough is enough. We must respect UNDRIP. We must recognize that this is indigenous territory. We must make sure that everything we do is following the lead of this community. However, it is clear that the illegal dumping continues and the illegal waste sits there.

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