(Ottawa) Amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act confirming the right to a healthy environment have been proclaimed.
Ottawa is also adding a sentence to the law that guarantees every Canadian has the right to a healthy environment and makes the government duty bound to protect that right.
The federal government has been working on this legislation for several years and presented the latest version to the Senate in February. Ottawa now has up to two years to define how this right will be implemented when it comes to enforcing the law.
Critics of the current text have argued that the law would be stronger if this right were enshrined in the Constitution, but the government is not interested in this change.
The law also updates the way toxic substances are assessed and includes a requirement to research safer alternatives, data on cumulative effects if combined with other substances and if they can cause cancer in the long term. .
The bill has passed the House of Commons and the Senate and must receive Royal Assent before officially coming into force.