How Examining Environmental Policy, Community-Based Data, and Federal Government Actions Can Inform a More Just and Sustainable Environmental Governance in Canada
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Issue Date
2024
Editor
Authors
Mang, Justina, H.K.
License
Subject
College of interdisciplinary studies
Abstract
As environmental sustainability and environmental injustice are increasingly the topics of national and international politics, whether they be reflected in current events, media platforms, or in the arts, progressive environmental governance reforms in Canada appear to be moving in the right direction. However, upon examining an exemplar population experiencing some of the highest outputs of industrial emissions – the Aamjiwnaang First Nation (AFN) – the literature points to a systemic insufficiency with the role of government entities and agents in co-managing industry and civil society interests. My dissertation by portfolio’s purpose is thus to answer the complex question of how a policy paper, a conceptual paper, and an opinion-editorial article can inform a more just and sustainable environmental governance for the AFN in Canada. The first portfolio product remarks that, while the Supreme Court Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA) ruling has legitimized a new regulatory framework for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions to address adverse climate change outcomes impacting the nation, GHGs are but one of three types of pollutants that cumulatively threaten the health, lives, and culture of the AFN. The second product examines how existing community-based research can best inform the conceptualization and implementation of Bill C-226, to progress environmental justice and sustainability for the AFN living in Chemical Valley. The last output assesses the effectiveness of GGPPA-related environmental governance practices, by looking at one key dimension of environmental justice and sustainability. Cross-portfolio conclusions drawn emphasize a greater need for government-wide systems-based thought and action, when conceptualizing and operationalizing environmental laws in a way that enables and not hinders, an effective, clear, equitable, and practical environmental governance. Integrating procedural and outcome justice components in environmental governance considerations, along with Indigenous inspired approaches, can offer some necessary insight into how examining environmental policy, community-based data, and federal government actions can inform a more just and sustainable environmental governance in Canada.
Description
2024