An Act Respecting the Right to a Healthy Environment (Bill 19) was tabled by David Coon on March 25, 2025. It aims to ensure that every New Brunswicker has the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment and to be protected from environmental hazards. It also obligates the Government of New Brunswick to protect these rights.
Bill 19 was debated in the Legislature on May 29, 2025 where all MLAs unanimously voted to send it to the Law Amendments Committee for further study and to hear from stakeholders and experts. Those hearings were held on September 18 and September 19, 2025. While public engagement was not part of the committee’s mandate, we want to hear from you!
David Coon will be proposing an updated version of Bill 19 during the new legislative session this fall. If you have thoughts or suggestions on the bill and what can be improved, please write to us using the form below. We will be accepting public feedback until October 31, 2025.
The bill can be broken down into the four ways that it aims to fulfill these goals:
1. Public participation: A means by which residents of New Brunswick may become informed and participate in environmental decision-making by the Government of New Brunswick.
- Obligates the government to make access to environmental information readily available to the public and to provide opportunities for meaningful public participation in environmental decision-making.
- Creates transparency by establishing a public environmental rights registry to provide the public with the information and data needed to protect their environmental rights.
2. Increased Accountability of the Government of New Brunswick for its environmental decision-making.
- Creates an independent Environmental Rights Commissioner who is a Legislative Officer, like the Auditor General and Child and Youth Advocate. Included in the Commissioner’s duties is the right to order the Minister to investigate contaminants in soil, air, water, or food that may pose a health hazard.
- New Brunswickers can apply to the Environmental Rights Commissioner for a review of policies to protect the environment or environmental health or if they believe that environmental regulations are being breached.
3. Increased Access to the Courts by residents of New Brunswick for the protection of the environment, and the protection of children from environmental hazards.
- Bring an application for judicial review of a government decision relating to environmental rights protection.
- Bring an environmental protection action against the Government of New Brunswick for failing to fulfill its environmental duties, failing to enforce environmental laws, failing to protect children from environmental harms and violating the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.
4. Enhanced Protection for all New Brunswickers who take action in respect of environmental harm.
- Protects employees from reprisals from their employer for whistleblowing on contraventions of environmental regulations.
- Protects New Brunswickers from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) aimed at preventing them from speaking out about contraventions of environmental regulations.