Latest news with #environmentalracism
CTV News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Nova Scotia ministers silent on environmental racism report, to meet with authors
Twila Grosse, MLA for Preston, is sworn in as Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs and Minister of the Public Service Commission, becoming the first female African Nova Scotian member of the Nova Scotia Executive Council, in Halifax on Thursday, Sept.14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Government of Nova Scotia (Mandatory Credit) HALIFAX — Nova Scotia government ministers say they will meet with a panel tasked with examining environmental racism in the province, although they remain tight-lipped on the panel's findings, which were submitted a year ago. Following a cabinet meeting Thursday, Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs Twila Grosse confirmed the meeting, adding she will attend. 'We want to ensure that we collaborate and that we move forward,' she said on the report by the eight-member panel appointed in June 2023 to look at how racism affects a community's natural environment. It was delivered to the province about a year ago. The panel's members included community leaders with expertise in subjects such as Mi'kmaw and African Nova Scotian history, law, health and environmental sciences. Environmental racism can occur in instances where landfills, trash incinerators, coal plants, toxic waste facilities and other environmentally hazardous activities are located near communities of colour, Indigenous territories and the working poor. Last month, Becky Druhan, justice minister and minister response for the office of equity and anti-racism, refused to give any details about the report and wouldn't confirm whether she had read it. On Thursday, Grosse said she has read the report but refused under repeated questioning to discuss the panel's recommendations. 'I am not prepared to comment on the content of that report,' she said, adding that its findings are the responsibility of the anti-racism office. Nor would Grosse discuss whether as minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs she was comfortable with keeping the findings under wraps, saying she would continue to be the government voice for her community. She added that she is well aware of the environmental effects of racism from 'lived experience.' Environment Minister Tim Halman told reporters he had been briefed on the report, but he too wouldn't release any details on what he had learned. Halman said he would be one of the ministers meeting with the panel. 'The path forward is that appropriate ministers will reach out to the panel and offer a meeting for a discussion and that will take place in the weeks ahead,' Halman said. Meanwhile, two other ministers asked whether they had read the report — Public Works Minister Fred Tilley and Health Minister Michelle Thompson — said they had not. The idea for the panel came from the opposition New Democrats, who proposed it in an amendment to climate change legislation that was passed in the fall of 2023. 'It is extremely distressing that many of the ministers haven't read the report,' NDP caucus chair Susan Leblanc told reporters. 'The report should be public, full stop.' Liberal house leader Iain Rankin, who created the anti-racism office when he was premier in 2021, said the government needs to get its priorities straight and release the report. 'It's revealing that there are elements of the report they don't want public, it could be a cost implication, but certainly it's not a priority for the government,' Rankin said. In a statement released later Thursday, Druhan said a public report wasn't part of the environmental panel's mandate, adding that it was tasked with providing advice to the government. 'It is understandable that this work is of interest to Nova Scotians and we want to be transparent,' Druhan said. 'We want to meet with members of the panel before sharing any further details publicly.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025. By Keith Doucette
CBC
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
N.S. gov't signals possible shift on keeping environmental racism report private
Amid ongoing public pressure, the Progressive Conservative government is signalling that details about a report on environmental racism in Nova Scotia could be shared. The panel that produced the report delivered it to the government a year ago, but its contents have remained unknown. Public calls from Mi'kmaw chiefs and opposition MLAs for its release had gone unheeded, until Thursday afternoon. A statement from Becky Druhan, the minister responsible for the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism, said a public report was not part of the panel's mandate, but it is understandable that people would be interested and the government wants to be transparent. "Out of respect for the panel, we want to meet with members before sharing any further details publicly. As minister, I have directed staff to reach out and arrange this meeting. I look forward to that discussion." Druhan's statement followed several of her cabinet colleagues earlier in the day saying they've not read the report and others standing behind the decision not to make it public. Public Works Minister Fred Tilley said he's not seen the report or asked to see it. Health Minister Michelle Thompson told reporters that she has access to the report but has not had a chance to read it. Environment Minister Tim Halman said he's been briefed on the report "at a high level," and that he anticipated being involved in a meeting with panel members when it's scheduled. African Nova Scotian Affairs Minister Twila Grosse told reporters she has reviewed the report, but said she would not share her views on its contents because the report sits with the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism and not her department. "We want to ensure that we collaborate and we move forward together with this," she said. Earlier this week, Membertou First Nation Chief Terry Paul said he and the rest of the Mi'kmaw chiefs in the province agree that the report needs to be shared publicly as a matter of accountability. Paul said none of the chiefs have seen the report. Speaking to reporters prior to Druhan's statement, Liberal MLA Iain Rankin questioned how much of a priority the document and its recommendations are for the government. The Office of Equity and Anti-Racism was created by Rankin during his brief tenure as premier and he said he did that to put the issue "at the centre of government." Rankin said elected officials must push ahead on such issues because there can be resistance within the bureaucracy. When he was environment minister, Rankin said he went against advice from public servants when he used the term "environmental racism" to describe certain situations. "We need to tackle institutional racism and, honestly, this is a reflection of institutional racism within government itself," he said. Report informing government policy NDP MLA Susan LeBlanc renewed her party's call for the report to be made public. It was an amendment to Progressive Conservative environmental legislation in 2022 by LeBlanc's caucus colleague, Suzy Hansen, that led to the creation of the panel. On Wednesday, Premier Tim Houston said he hasn't seen the report, but he's been briefed on it. The premier told reporters that government officials are working on some of the recommendations while others are still being reviewed. The document is being used to develop government policy, he said. "I think it served the purpose. We had a bunch of good people, they did some work and they made some recommendations and government is taking it seriously."
CTV News
30-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Nova Scotia NDP says province too secretive, must release environmental racism report
Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender speaks to reporters at the provincial legislature in Halifax, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's Opposition NDP called on Premier Tim Houston's government Friday to release a report about the province's long history of environmental racism, saying it's a matter of accountability. An eight-member panel was expected to submit its report to Houston's government in December 2023. Justice Minister Becky Druhan, who is also responsible for the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism, did not answer Thursday when pressed by reporters to explain why the government is sitting on the report. Druhan also wouldn't answer when asked whether she had seen the panel's recommendations, saying its work predated her appointment as minister. NDP Leader Claudia Chender told reporters Friday that Druhan's evasiveness is part of a 'concerning pattern' by a government that is acting as if it's above accountability. 'People are noticing this government's aversion to transparency,' said Chender. 'Having a majority (government) is not a blank cheque to keep Nova Scotians in the dark.' As another example, she pointed to the government's failure to publicly disclose it had agreed earlier this year to sign a $170-million federal infrastructure deal. As for the environmental racism panel, it was appointed in June 2023 to look at how racism affects a community's natural environment. The idea for the panel came from NDP caucus member Suzy Hansen, who proposed its creation in an amendment to climate change legislation that was passed in the fall of 2023. Hansen said she was 'disappointed and frustrated' to hear that Druhan had refused to provide any information about the panel's report or its recommendations. She said the report's release would mean a great deal to the province's Black and indigenous communities. 'This is an opportunity for the government to show that they, in good faith, are going to do the right thing -- and they didn't do any of that by hiding the information,' Hansen said. Examples of environmental racism in Nova Scotia include the toxic dump and landfill that operated for decades near the historic Black communities of Shelburne and Lincolnville. As well, the cleanup continues at Boat Harbour, N.S., near the Pictou Landing First Nation, where a once pristine body of water served for decades as an effluent lagoon for a now defunct paper mill. The NDP leader's news conference came a day after Chender called for more transparency around the government's push to encourage uranium exploration in three areas of the province with known deposits. Chender was reacting to comments made by Natural Resources Minister Tory Rusthon, who confirmed Thursday that he has the power under the Minerals Resources Act to compel private property owners to allow mineral exploration on their land. But he said that option has barely been used 'over decades.' 'My understanding is, yes, it can be (used), but right now we are encouraging landowners and the researchers to have the conversation, ' said Rushton. 'They'd have to prove to me that they've had the negotiations before we'd ever intervene.' Opponents of uranium exploration, however, have drawn attention to the fact that Rushton used the act earlier this year to allow an Australian company to explore for lithium deposits without the permission of landowners in southwestern Nova Scotia. 'Landowners are very concerned about this,' Chender said Thursday. 'I think we need more clarity.' By Keith Doucette This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025.
