Editorial Cartoon: Poverty/Environmental Justice. Source: Environmental Racism
From the clean water crisis in Flint, Michigan, to the racialized environmental dispossession of fishers in Praia de Buraquinho, Brazil, environmental racism exists around the world, and Canada is no exception. Yet this issue is not being acknowledged or addressed to the same degree as other forms of systemic racism. As Robert D. Bullard once explained “some communities are being routinely poisoned while the government looks the other way.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated already-existing inequalities and brought issues like dismantling policing systems and health care reform into the media spotlight. So why aren’t we seeing a dialogue in mainstream media on how the environment is experienced and lived out differently based on race? Environmental racism is not invisible; in many cases, its impacts are measurable. The issue, however, is that no one wants to take responsibility for environmental injustices. The cases of the Alberta Oil Sands and the boil water drinking advisories highlight the issue of environmental racism in Canada: one example illustrates the active neglect of the Canadian government, whereas the other represents sacrificing a particular community to maximize economic gain.
What is Environmental Racism?
The term environmental racism was first coined in 1982 by Benjamin Chavis, a Black Civil Rights activist, who defined it as “...racial discrimination in environmental policy-making, the enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poison and pollutants in our communities, and the history of excluding people of color from the leadership of ecology movements.” This definition of environmental racism focused on the disproportionate exposure to pollution in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) communities. Examples of this would be anything from workplaces with unsound health regulations, to contaminated drinking water, to schools in decaying buildings, to pollution and severe lead exposure, etc.
A famous Canadian example of this is the case of Africville, Nova Scotia. The City of Halifax chose to situate a number of polluting industries, including fertilizer plants, slaughterhouses, Rockhead Prison (in 1854), “night-soil disposal pits” (human waste) and the Infectious Diseases Hospital (in the 1870s), all within the same predominantly Black Nova Scotian community. This resulted in high levels of soil contamination, waste overflow, and groundwater pollution and depletion, which increased the health risks of the citizens of Africville to a great extent, exposing them to radiation and other environmental related diseases.
Professor Andil Gosine has explained the evolution of the concept of environmental racism beyond simply the direct exposure to pollutants. He explains how in the 1990s Dr. Robert Bullard redefined the scope of environmental racism to include any environmental policy, practice or directive that deliberately disadvantages individuals and communities based on race and colour.
Bullard pushed this dialogue further, theorizing how BIPOC communities have been forced into a dependent relationship with white society, who determine their social, economic, legal and environmental administration. This definition of environmental racism more clearly demonstrates how it is a form of institutionalized discrimination, prompting questions about who these environmental policies are being made for, and who bears the brunt of the costs of environmental degradation.
The Case of the Albertan Oil Sands
A prime contemporary example of a racialized community bearing the brunt of the costs of environmental degradation is the Alberta Oil Sands. The Athabasca river flows through the heart of the oil sands, and First Nations Communities located downriver, such as the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, on average face higher rates of cancer due to exposure to oil sands pollutants. Research conducted by Professor Stephane McLachlan found that these contaminants in the river not only affected the water, but also the animals consumed as part of a traditional diet of this region.
Oil sands developments clearly demonstrate how the idea of economic profit for a white settler majority has justified deliberate violence towards Indigenous communities, forcing the latter to bear the brunt of the environmental and health costs. Due to land degradation and the poisoning of ecosystems, oil sands developments are preventing Indigenous peoples from practicing traditional livelihoods. Oil companies, with the aid of the Albertan and Federal governments have sacrificed the wellbeing of these communities primarily for the benefit of Settler-Albertans, once again proving “whose lives matter” more.
Boil Water Advisories on First Nations Reserves
While the Oil Sands are an example of a project that is actively creating harmful impacts, boil water advisories are an example of harm through neglect. In 2015, the Federal Government of Canada promised to lift all long-term drinking water advisories on reserves by March 2021. Currently, there are 63 long-term drinking water advisories in effect on reserves and 91 advisories have been lifted since November 2015. However, as CBC News has reported, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed some of the key deadlines of the Liberal administration in regard to its reconciliation agenda. Most notably, the promise to end the long-term boil water advisories of First Nations by March 2021 will no longer be upheld. The government of Canada has emphasized the importance of handwashing to protect oneself against COVID-19, and yet, they have failed to provide clean water for Indigenous communities.
This all begs the question: is environmental racism a problem that governments cannot see, or is it something that they are choosing to ignore? Canada has one of the largest supplies of freshwater resources in the world. Very few communities have suffered to gain access to clean drinking water the way that Indigenous communities on reserves have, and certainly not for such a prolonged period of time. The pandemic has revealed the priorities of this government, as work on extractive projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline continue, while efforts to permanently resolve boil water advisories are stalled.
Out of Mind, Out of Sight?
In the words of Dr. Kwame McKenzie, “Discrimination is not necessarily about what you do. It is often about what you don’t do”. With other forms of racism, the discrimination is clearer as there is often a more obvious source to blame. With racist police officers, it's a corrupt policing system; with malpractices by racist medical professionals, it's a discriminatory healthcare system. But with environmental racism, the culprits are often a combination of powerful stakeholders: from our governments, to various corporations and private industry. Although these actors are oftentimes able to evade accountability, they are actively making decisions to permit projects or avoid addressing existing issues with detrimental consequences for BIPOC communities. This is something we can no longer tolerate: if we want to see real change, we must choose to see the interrelation of racial and environmental justice and hold our government accountable to the people instead of the corporation’s that fill their pockets.
This is systemic racism: environmental racism it is not invisible, it is calculated.
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