National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act

The National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act (French: Loi sur la stratégie nationale relative au racisme environnemental et à la justice environnementale, Bill C-230, 2020) is a law passed by the Parliament of Canada as a private member's bill proposed by Cumberland—Colchester MP Lenore Zann.

National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act
Parliament of Canada
Long title An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to redress environmental racism (Bill C-230, 2020)
Territorial extent	Canada
Enacted by	Parliament of Canada
Legislative history
Bill title	C-230
Introduced by	Lenore Zann
Second reading	March 24, 2021

Summary

The bill would require the federal Minister of the Environment to create a national strategy to tackle environmental racism within two years.^[1] It includes provisions for the government to collect statistical information on the links between race, socioeconomic status, health outcomes, and environmental hazards.^[2]

Legislative history

Zann had previously proposed a similar bill to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 2017, when she served as an MLA, however it did not pass.^[3] She had worked with Dalhousie University professor Ingrid Waldron on writing the bill.^[4]

Elected as a federal MP with the Liberal Party of Canada in 2019, Zann introduced a federal version of the act as a private member's bill to the House of Commons in February 2020. The bill was seconded by Green Party leader Elizabeth May.^[5] After the federal parliament was prorogued from August to September 2020, the bill was reinstated to the new session of parliament.^[6] On the 24th of March 2021, the bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons by a vote of 182 to 153, being referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development before third reading.^[7]