Group pushes for right to a healthy environment
National, local efforts for support
A University of Regina student is spearheading a campaign calling on city council to declare residents’ rights to a healthy environment.
Kinesiology student Kelly Husack was inspired by David Suzuki’s Blue Dot campaign when the Canadian environmentalist spoke in Regina in October. Blue Dot is gathering signatures to petition the federal government to add the right to a healthy environment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Essentially, it will mean that all people have the right to breathe fresh air, have access to clean, safe drinking water, and also have access to healthy food,” said Husack.
More than 110 countries recognize this right. Blue Dot has so far received 68,500 signatures nationally, 680 from Regina.
The campaign also encourages efforts on the municipal level. Husack said 70-80 people from the university and the community have expressed an interest in helping her collect at least 7,000 signatures to present to city council, hopefully by the fall.
“It is a chance to expand citizens’ rights and work to something that affects all Canadians,” said Husack of why she took on the campaign.
If the group is successful in swaying council, Regina will become the first city in Saskatchewan to declare citizens’ rights to a healthy environment, joining 26 other municipalities across Canada. A similar group is working toward this goal in Saskatoon, and factions in other Saskatchewan communities are popping up as well.
Husack said the declaration would be more a show of support by the municipal government to see change at the provincial and federal levels than anything else.
Still, she said she hopes a declaration will also lead to environmental protections at the municipal level. She would like to see more annual reports identifying contaminants in Regina’s environment, and for the city and local businesses to delineate their commitments for making a healthy environment in the future.
“However, I know there are other considerations in which the city needs to make at this time in terms of financial sustainability,” Husack said.
Mayor Michael Fougere, who only found out about the campaign today, said, “In many ways it’s hard to argue against what they’re saying in terms of the preservation and promotion of clean and fresh air and healthy food, but beyond that I really can’t comment.”
He said that given charter rights are a federal matter, “what (an amendment) actually means for a municipality — I don’t know that.”
Nevertheless, Fougere said that when it comes to ensuring a healthy environment for Regina residents, “We have a role to play, but largely maybe symbolic or setting the tone.”
The Regina Blue Dot group is meeting with a couple of councillors next week to discuss the campaign and how best to bring it forward to council.
Reginans can sign the petition at BlueDot.ca.