Open Letter to the Prime Minister and Incoming Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Regarding Climate Justice
***Update November 8, 2021***
On October 25, 2021 we received a response from the Executive Correspondence Officer, acknowledging receipt on behalf of the Prime Minister. It stated that the comments, offered on behalf of Lawyers for Climate Justice, “have been carefully reviewed.” It also said that the ECO forwarded the correspondence to the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change (as he then was), and the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (as he then was), for their information and consideration.
October 14, 2021
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and the incoming Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada,
Climate change is a profound justice issue.
Canada has entered a protracted era of accelerating climate destabilization for which our laws, judicial infrastructure, and justice system were not designed, and to which we must all urgently respond.
As lawyers and legal organizations from diverse practice areas across the country, we implore the next government to take seriously the implications of climate destabilization for our system of laws and the administration of justice in Canada.
Climate destabilization implicates the mandate of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General in a number of ways:
1. Threatening fundamental rights and freedoms
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has concluded that climate destabilization threatens the enjoyment of all human rights, including rights to health, water, food, housing, self-determination, and life itself.[1]
This threat is increasing exponentially as greenhouse gas emissions heat the planet more each year. We need look no further than the 570 lives lost to extreme heat in British Columbia earlier this summer to see this growing threat at work.
We urge you to proactively assess, monitor, and mitigate the ways that climate destabilization threatens Canadians’ fundamental rights and freedoms to prevent them from being eroded.
2. Threatening judicial and prison infrastructure
Climate destabilization and extreme weather threaten judicial and prison infrastructure and the justice system participants that depend on it. A proactive approach is urgently needed.
Last year’s deep freeze in Texas offers a darkly cautionary tale. Beset with extreme weather and widespread infrastructure failure, prisoners in Harris County were trapped in inhumane conditions, without running water, blankets or food.[2]
We should not assume that Canada’s judicial and prison infrastructure is any less vulnerable to rising temperatures and dangerous weather extremes.
We implore you to assess, monitor, and mitigate any vulnerabilities to ensure that justice workers, prisoners, and other justice system actors are protected.
3. Exacerbating inequality, racism, and other systemic injustices
The communities that have contributed the least to climate change are already suffering its worst effects, both in Canada and abroad.
This includes Indigenous Peoples, who are already over-represented in the Canadian justice system, and whose communities and Section 35 rights are increasingly threatened by the destabilized climate.[3]
The next Minister of Justice and Attorney General should approach their work through a climate lens to avoid exacerbating existing injustices.
We urge you to assess, monitor, and mitigate the impacts of climate disruption on inequality, racism and other systemic injustices in Canada, and on Section 35 rights in particular.
4. Necessitating climate action and climate justice across all federal statutes and forthcoming bills
Climate destabilization implicates every area of law.
Every area of law thus has a role to play in advancing climate action and protecting vulnerable communities from climate risks.
We urge you to review all federal statutes and forthcoming Bills through a climate justice lens and to make all necessary amendments to avoid exacerbating climate change and to ensure that vulnerable populations are meaningfully protected.
Sincerely,
Lawyers for Climate Justice
East Coast Environmental Law
Canadian Environmental Law Association
West Coast Environmental Law
Transnational Environmental Law and Policy Clinic - Windsor Law
Osgoode Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic
IAVGO Community Legal Clinic
David Khan Law
Calvin Sandborn, Q.C.
Tim Leadem, Q.C.
Deborah Curran
Martin Olszynski
Sharon Mascher
Andrew Petter
David Estrin
Christie McLeod
Sagar Memon
Madison Vonk
Daniel Roth
Riel Hishon
David McRobert
Patricia Lane
Alana Robert
Brian Hebert
Theresa McClenaghan
Kerrie Blaise
Pascale Chapdelaine
Jane Henderson
Erin Gray
Krystal-Anne Roussel
Aldo Chircop
Peter Jones
Meredith James
Laura Track
Jesse Standing
Alexis Giannelia
Shawnee Monchalin
Kelby Loeppky
Kate Meagher
Liam McGuigan
Veronica S. C. Rossos
Breanne Martin
Holiday Powell
Andrew Mendelson
Berry Hykin
Georgia Lloyd-Smith
Naiomi Metallic
Stephanie Hewson
Steven Evans
David VanderZwaag
Muzhgan Wahaj
Maia Jorgensen
Karl Maier
Jessica Proudfoot
Jodi Lazare
Peter Hillson
Camille Labchuk
Anna Johnston
Chris Macleod
Sara Seck
Ga Grant
Aladdin Tingling Diakun
Shin Imai
Anna McIntosh
Amanda Spitzig
Tricia Barry
Dyna Tuytel
James Gunvaldsen Klaassen
Danielle Gallant
Matt Hulse
Bill McIntosh
Patrick C. Canning
David Wu
Phil Dwyer C.M.
Alexia Cadoret
Charlotte Chamberlain
Diane Turner
Matthew Wray
Ioana Dragalin
Ian Moore
Karissa Kelln
Joelle Karras
Jack Lloyd
Maya Stano
Grant Gray
Kathryn Deo
Erin Reimer
Jacqueline Kotyk
Jameela Jeeroburkhan
Élisabeth Patterson
Marc Goldgrub
Sam Harrison
Sarah-Maude Belleville-Chenard
Marc Bishai
Garth Wallbridge
Matthew Nefstead
Simon Owen
Angeline Nyce
Mae Price
Adele Lay
linda locke
Drew Mildon
Heather Mahony
Dominique Nouvet
J. Patrick Brown
Soojin Lee
Richard Corley
Delaney Greig
Gary Campo
Noah Ross
Sean Nixon
Michelle Kushnir
Solomon McKenzie
Jane Barriault
Stephen Hazell
Grace Cheng
Robert Shirkey
Alexa Powell
Eamon Murphy
Richard Schwartz
Natalie Copps
David Khan
Anneke Smit
Travis Allan
Sabaa Ahmad Khan
Jennie Milligan
Andrew Luba
Ava Murphy
Rima Halabi
Christopher Wiebe
Luke Maynard
Annie Alport
Kaitlyn Mitchell
Michael Slattery
[Further signatories]
[1] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “The impacts of climate change on the effective enjoyment of human rights” (last accessed 26 September 2021), online: <https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/AboutClimateChangeHR.aspx>.
[2] Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, “People In Texas Jails Are 'Freezing,' Without Hot Food Or Running Water” (17 February 2021), online: Huffington Post <https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-winter-storm-jails-prisons-power-outage_n_602db1dbc5b66da5db9ee685>.
[3] Human Rights Watch, “Canada: Climate Crisis Toll on First Nations’ Food Supply”, (21 October 2020), online: <https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/21/canada-climate-crisis-toll-first-nations-food-supply>.
Instructions for Signing On
Lawyers for Climate Justice welcomes legal organizations and individual lawyers (practicing and non-practicing), irrespective of practice area, to sign on to the open letter below, using the form fields at the bottom of this page.
We are excited to demonstrate the collective voice of legal professionals who recognize that climate change matters for justice and implicates our ethical duties, including duties to improve the administration of justice, champion the rule of law, and safeguard the rights and freedoms of all persons.
Please share this widely with others in your network who may be interested in signing on.
If you have any questions, please email info@lawyers4climate.ca