Minister of Environment and Climate Change visits Aamjiwnaang
By Marina Plain
AAMJIWNAANG, FIRST NATION—Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray, was a guest in Aamjiwnaang First Nation on May 26, 2016, for a Chief and Council meeting regarding an important and heavy loaded subject matter for the citizens of Aamjiwnaang: the local environment.
The attendees of the meeting welcomed Minister Glen Murray with a tour and meet & greet with Chief and Council, staff, and community members before shifting focus to the agenda at hand.
The Environmental Stewardship Projects that are currently in place to proactively confront the industries that pollute the environment and cause daily toxic exposure to local residents were reviewed and discussed which also included a community portion of the meeting where local citizens of the community could vocalize their concerns. The concern for what more can be done in the fight for a cleaner local environment stems from the close proximity to a chemical valley that contaminates all forms of life that surrounds it through leaks and emissions of chemical toxins that have adverse and dangerous consequences, for both habitat and health alike.
Minister Glen Murray was invited to discuss the amended Ontario Regulation 419/05: Air Pollution – Local Air Quality, under the Environment Protection Act, which will take effect July 1, 2016, to introduce the new or updated air standards for nine contaminants to the Environmental Registry. “The purpose of this Act is to provide for the protection and conservation of the natural environment”.
During one of the community portions of the meeting, a poignant comment made by Minister Murray was “that if we treated nature as sacred, it would be a pathway back to healthy communities”.
This statement coincides with what the Environment Committee of Aamjiwnaang and its members are dedicated to fulfilling and with the overall vision they wish to create for generations to come. Their vision is that “Aamjiwnaang will be a healthy, vibrant and united community of Anishinaabek by empowering and uniting”, which can be achieved through the preservation of the environment now.
Other notable events at the meeting include, but are not limited to: Ojibway songs by the Senior Kindergarten Class accompanied by the Brown Bear Drum Group; prayers by Elders Lyn Rosales and Wilson Plain Sr.; a view of Benzene (a highly flammable, colourless liquid present in crude oil and gasoline) Remediation being conducted by local refineries; a tour of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) Air Monitoring Station; a visit to the Maajiigin Gumig (Aamijwnaang Greenhouse); a tour of the St. Clair River shore; the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority Conservation Award winning Talfourd Creek; and an evening session highlighting a seminar between Chief and Council and Minister Glen Murray led by Aamjiwnaang Environment Coordinator, Sharilyn Johnston.