FREDERICTON – Friday in the Legislative Assembly, Green Party Leader and MLA for Fredericton Lincoln David Coon introduced a revised version of his bill, entitled An Act Respecting the Right to a Healthy Environment. The bill proposes to safeguard the rights of all present and future residents of New Brunswick to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.
“New Brunswickers are being chased into their homes and out of their communities in order to escape environmental challenges and pollution,” said Coon. “As the federal government rolls back environmental laws, we need to establish people’s right to breathe clean air, drink safe water and consume healthy fish and game, more than ever.”
Last Spring MLAs voted unanimously to send an earlier version of Coon’s bill to the Law Amendments Committee to hear from interested witnesses. Coon revised the bill to incorporate many of the recommendations made at Committee. Changes include updating definitions to align with other legislation and clarifying the role of the courts to address legal ambiguity.
“I’d like to thank the presenters at the Law Amendments Committee for their thoughtful recommendations to improve my bill. This is how the Legislative process should work,” added Coon. “Now I’m calling on Premier Holt to hold to her commitment to allow her caucus to have a free vote on this bill.”
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