A History Lesson on Environmental Racism and
the Environmental Justice Movement

The term environmental racism, originally coined by Dr. Benjamin Chavis, first emerged in the 1980s in North Carolina on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and Environmental Movement of the 70s 3. It originally came in response to the placement of a toxic chemical landfill in Warren County North Carolina, a predominantly Black community. This event led to a month-long protest, gaining widespread notoriety which sparked similar protests across the US and grew into the movement we know today.

Environmental Racism in so called Canada

Racism has been a part of Canada’s history since the early interactions of Europeans and Indigenous peoples. Land was seized from these communities and there was a clear lack of respect and lack of recognition of their rights to the land. 

As we’ve discussed in the previous section, environmental racism is the development and implementation of environmental policy on issues such as toxic waste disposal sites, pollution, and urban decay in areas with a significant ethnic or racial population. Believe it or not, Canada is not immune to these policies. Black and Indigenous communities in Canada are exposed to environmental racism through exposure of toxic waste facilities, garbage dumps, and other sources of environmental pollution that negatively impacts quality of life and health 4 

Shoal Lake 40

Shoal Lake 40 First Nation is a clear example of how environmental racism has played out in the making of Winnipeg. During the rapid expansion of the City of Winnipeg in 1890, it became clear that there was an urgent need to obtain clean drinking water to support the influx of settlers and industrial development in the city 5. In order to obtain permission to divert water from Shoal Lake into Winnipeg, the City required approval of the International Joint Commission (IJC), the Government of Canada, and the Province of Ontario. Nowhere did the city obtain permission or consideration of the residents of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation who would be severely impacted for the next hundred years. What ensued during this period was the displacement of residents of Shoal Lake 40 onto the lake’s peninsula that would later be severed with the construction of the aqueduct channel, landlocking the residents onto an artificial island 6. For the next century, Shoal Lake 40 residents were isolated without an access road or clean drinking water while Winnipeg reaped the benefits of the water they were taking.

You can learn more about the history of the aqueduct and Shoal Lake 40 in Adele Perry’s book Aqueduct: Colonialism, Resources, and the Resources we Remember.

Africville, Nova Scotia

Following the American Revolution, there was a significant migration of Black settlers entering Canada with many settling in Nova Scotia where they were promised freedom and land. Upon arrival, they were met with racism and prejudice from white settlers and were subsequently pushed to the outskirts of Halifax 7. Over time, the community grew into a tightknit, cultural hub that would formally be known as “Africville”. Although the residents found refuge from the anti-Black racism in the city’s center, they were not free from the daily injustices they faced from systemic anti-Black racism that ran the city’s operations. Residents of Africville paid taxes to the City of Halifax and yet they were cut off from any Municipal services such as sewage systems, clean drinking water, paved roads, garbage collection, public transportation and recreational spaces 8. Despite these barriers to an equitable livelihood, residents nurtured and supported each other and remained in Africville until 1965 when the City of Halifax began its “Urban Renewal Project” and Africville was ultimately destroyed 9. Leading up to this project, the city envisioned Africville as a site for Industrial development and in 1947 rezoned it as such 10. This led to the forced displacement and relocation of residents, which was strongly opposed. The “superior housing” that they were promised in exchange for the demolition of their homes did not materialize, leaving many residents unable to afford short term rentals and were ultimately forced to leave the city all together.

You can read more about the story of Africville in Shaunty Grant’s book Africville

Grassy Narrows

With permission from the government of Ontario, the Dryden Chemicals Ltd dumped mercury into the English-Wabigoon River from 1962 to 1970. People from Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) who lived just upstream began to suffer the effects of severe mercury poisoning in fish , including damaged nervous systems, death, and multigenerational birth defects 11. The Province of Ontario issued the termination of the commercial fishery due to the imposed health risk of the contaminated fish. This led to mass unemployment of community members of Grassy Narrows who not only relied on the fish as their primary food source but also their main source of income. Dryden Chemicals Ltd officially shut down in 1976 but the harmful health effects of their actions have persisted to this day. Community members were forced to advocate for decades before the federal and provincial governments would begin to provide any form of aid or clean-up efforts. It was only in 2017 that the federal government began their clean-up of the English-Wabigoon River 12, and now in 2023 with the expected opening of a care facility dedicated to victims of mercury poisoning13, all occurring 50+ years after community members were poisoned.

You can read more about Grassy Narrows and its harmful lingering impacts in George Hutchison & Dick Wallace’s book Grassy Narrows.

Chemical Valley

“Chemical Valley” is a 25km2 area of land between Ontario and Michigan that holds 40 percent of Canada’s polluting chemical companies 14. Chemical valley is located next to Aamjiwaang First Nation and the city of Sarnia, and in 2011 was deemed the worst air in all of Canada by the World Health Organization 15. The varied range of pollutants entering and mixing in the air of Chemical Valley creates a lethal concoction and has been linked to higher rates of cancers, respiratory illnesses, and reproductive health issues of the residents and victims of Chemical Valley 16. You can read more about the perceptions and coping strategies of the Aamjiwaang First Nation in Smith and Lockridge's study “Surrounded by Chemical Valley and “Living in a Bubble”: the case of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Ontario” (2010), which provides in-depth interviews from community members affected 17.

Wet’suwet’en First Nation

In British Columbia, TC Energy has been pushing to construct the infamous Coastal Gaslink Pipeline that would cross under Wedzin Kwa (Moris River) despite opposition from Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs 18. Wedzin Kwa is a sacred site and drilling under this river is not permitted in the territory. Undeterred by the hereditary chiefs' sovereignty over the unceded lands, TC Energy has continued its assault on the lands and its defenders. This has led to numerous demonstrations, blockades and protests across Turtle Island in support of the land defenders and hereditary chiefs of Wet’suwet’en 19.  

This protest is ongoing. You can stay up to date with the land defenders by following their social media pages listed below. 

Facebook: Gidimt’en Checkpoint  

Instagram: @yintah_access 

Twitter: @gidimten 

Hollow Water First Nation

On May 16th 2019, the Provincial government of Manitoba approved the environmental license for Canadian Premium Sand’s (CPS) proposed silica sand extraction project “Wanipigow Sand” 20. The project site is located on the territory of Hollow Water First Nation, 160 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The project was widely opposed by residents of Hollow Water who set up Camp Morning Star to halt construction 21. The primary concerns over this project are the adverse impacts to air quality, ground water, noise pollution and its impacts on wildlife, hunting rights, and overall degradation to the land 22.  

You can keep up to date with the land defenders on the ground at Camp Morning Star through their social media pages: 

Facebook: Camp Morning Star  

Instagram: @campmorningstar 

Manitoba Hydro in Northern Manitoba

Manitoba Hydro is the leading provider of electricity in the province with six mega dams constructed over the Nelson River 23. Although hydroelectricity has been marketed as a green energy, there are detrimental impacts to the environment, local economies, human health, and social well-being of the Indigenous peoples obstructing the path to resource extraction. Mega dams operate through the development of artificial reservoirs which have flooded thousands of square kilometers of land in northern Manitoba 24. The observed effects from this flooding and development include spikes in mercury levels in the surrounding bodies of water, increased methane emissions from decomposing vegetation submerged during flooding, increased erosion of shorelines due to artificial fluctuations of water levels, terrestrial and aquatic habitat loss, and the gradual change of community structure due to these changes of the land.  

Take a deeper look into the impacts of Manitoba Hydro in the North through the work available at Wa Ni Ska Tan