Montreal / Toronto, June 29, 2018 – Women’s health organizations are disappointed to learn that the Minister of the Environment will not move forward on much needed reforms to the outdated Canadian Environment Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). The reforms proposed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development’s report illustrate that women and other vulnerable populations face specific exposures to toxic chemicals that are not being considered by the government.
Under the current law, Canadians are not protected from toxic substances - the exposure to which leads to thousands of premature deaths each year and millions of preventable diseases. This fact was highlighted in the Standing Committee’s report, which included suggested reforms to update our outdated pollution law and better protect Canadians from toxic health risks.
The organizations speaking out on CEPA inaction include Breast Cancer Action Quebec, Women's Healthy Environments Network (WHEN) and six allied women’s health groups as part of the newly formed coalition Canadian Women against Toxic Substances, which submitted a statement on CEPA to the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change titled Toxic Substances are a Feminist Issue!
“When our regulators fail us, we are left to constantly worry about how toxic exposures in our
workplaces, our homes, the food we eat, and the products we use are impacting our health. We
shouldn’t need a degree in chemistry to understand how we can protect ourselves and our loved ones,” Cassie Barker, Executive Director of WHEN said.
This failure to take much needed action on pollution and CEPA means that Canadians continue to be exposed to poorly managed carcinogens, hormone disruptors and other toxic chemicals.
Patricia Kearns, Research and Networking Advisor at BCAQc states: “This government enjoys calling themselves feminists, yet they are failing women by not doing the work of protecting their health.
“We are very disappointed that this government is wasting this vital opportunity to protect our health and our environment from the toxics that wreak havoc on our communities, and will do so for generations to come,” says Jennifer Beeman, Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action Quebec (BCAQc). "Women can’t wait for the next election - they need leaders who won’t hold their health hostage.”
A class of chemicals called endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are proven to be tied to increases in hormonally driven cancers such as breast, prostate, testicular and thyroid cancers as well as chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma, neurological disorders such as ADHD and autism as well as both male and female reproductive disorders. However, under our current law, these endocrine disruptors are not classified as toxic.
Source: Breast Cancer Action Quebec and Women and Healthy Environments Network
Contact:
Patricia Kearns, Breast Cancer Action Quebec. 514-483-1846
Cassie Barker, Executive Director, Women and Healthy Environments Network. 416-928-0880
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Breast Cancer Action Quebec has advocated for breast cancer prevention and the elimination of environmental toxins linked to the disease for over 25 years.
Women's Healthy Environments Network Since 1994, WHEN has been educating the general public, media and policy makers that environmental health is a key determinant of public health and has promoted public action for the prevention of environmental health harms.