What Kind of Life? Why the Canadian Charter’s Guarantees of Life and Security of the Person Should Include the Right to a Healthy Environment

Abstract

This is an exciting time for the environmental and human rights movements. A growing
majority of countries are recognizing the international human right to a healthy environment, and
Canada is poised to join them. Two members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation community are
arguing in a Canadian court that the government, by granting permission for increasing pollution in
their community, is violating their Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms rights to life and
security of the person. Thus, there is a real possibility that in the next year or so, a Canadian court
will recognize for the first time that the Charter includes a right to a healthy environment. This
Article uses Canada’s international human rights obligations and domestic Charter law to
demonstrate why Canadian courts should find that the Charter rights to life and security of the
person include the right to a healthy environment.