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What can the Canadian government do to better protect us from toxic chemicals?
Canada ranks as the third worst polluter in the industrialized world. Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done. When we want to, Canada can be a great leader. In the 1980s and 90s we made great strides to tackle acid rain. We also started the blue box recycling program, which has diverted billions of tons of waste from landfill. Our next challenge is to confront the pollution problem by phasing out toxic chemicals.
Other countries have faced the pollution problem head on. The European Union has developed a new chemicals regulation system, REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of CHemicals), that if passed in its most protective form, will greatly improve the safety of chemicals allowed on the market and will ensure the phase-out of all inherently hazardous chemicals. In the US, the proposed Child, Worker, and Consumer-Safe Chemicals Act has the potential to follow the European lead. When these frameworks become law, citizens of the EU and the US will be granted a higher level of protection for their health and safety than Canadians. We deserve better.
The opportunity exists now to bring the regulation of toxic chemicals in Canada up to international standards. In Canada, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) regulates toxic chemicals used and produced by industry—and it’s time to give this ineffective piece of legislation a make-over during its mandatory 5-year review that began in the Spring of 2006.
Under CEPA, safety testing is not required for most chemicals. Industry is not held accountable for its chemicals. Pollution prevention and the phase-out of toxics is only granted lip service. The result is that as each year passes, increasing volumes of chemicals are entering the environment and making their way into Canadians’ bodies.
The CEPA review is an opportunity to bring the regulation of toxic chemicals in Canada up to international standards. Environmental Defence recommends CEPA be used to:
- Eliminate toxic chemicals.
- Make industry accountable for its chemicals.
- Keep toxic chemicals out of consumer products.
- Reduce pollution in the Great Lakes basin.
Read our platform for toxics regulation in Canada. You will need Acrobat Reader to read the platform. Click here to download the program for free.
Sign Environmental Defence's petition urging the federal government to strengthen the regulation of chemicals in Canada.
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