The 2006 update of the popular Turning the Tide paper,again co-published with LEAS, contains a wealth of very practical information. This is a citizen's primer on protecting you, your family, and the environment.

Turning the Tide - 2006 update

Co-published: Labour Environmental Alliance Society & Wilderness Committee Vol.25 - No.02, Spring 2006

girl in grass

Spare any Change

the myth of Canada's leadership on pollution control

If you’re looking for tough laws that protect you and your family from toxic pollution, Canada may not have the high standards you thought. Patchwork laws across the provinces, national laws based on downstream solutions, and an over-reliance on “voluntary” industry measures to remove the most dangerous chemicals from production, have contributed to a 49 per cent increase in the volume of chemicals reported released into the environment over the past decade. (1)

As a result, Canada has one of the worst pollution rankings in the world amongst industrialized countries, coming in 28th out of 30th in the most recent annual environmental ranking of OECD countries (the 30 most industrialized nations in the world). (2)

The passage of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) in 1999 was a welcome step, but CEPA clearly needs to be strengthened to be effective at protecting Canadians and our environment from toxic contamination. The good news is that, as this newspaper shows, there are many examples of best practices from around the world to draw on. The most important of these are:

  • 1- initiate an immediate ban on the most toxic and persistent chemicals, such as PBDEs;
  • 2- expand CEPA's registry to include all known toxins (carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, reproductive & developmental toxins) and require products with these ingredients to be clearly labelled;
  • 3- provide money to provinces and cities to ensure toxins in the solid and liquid waste stream can be recovered appropriately;
  • 4- shift the onus to industry to prove chemicals are safe before they are approved for use.

    The opportunity to incorporate these higher standards is right now. In 2005 Parliament initiated a mandatory five-year review of CEPA that will continue through 2006. Please take the time today to let the Prime Minister and your MP (contact information in the box right below) know how you feel about turning the tide on toxic pollution.