Hundreds of communities across Canada have fallen victim to the cruel realities of environmental racism caused by the government.

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Environmental racism is a broad term that refers to discriminatory and harmful actions affecting both people and the Earth. People of power, like the government, consider the vulnerability and hush of many small communities in Canada—most of these being Indigenous communities—as places to do their dirty work.

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These Indigenous communities have always been targets of racism—but now they have become places for Canada to run their factories, mills, and plants that both hurt the environment and the people.

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This article will discuss the serial cases of environmental racism throughout Canada and our Indigenous communities.

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1. Grassy Narrows: Canada’s Worst Mercury Epidemic, 1960 – Today

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Ninety percent. 

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That is the percentage of people who have mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows, a small Indigenous community in the northwestern part of Ontario on the English-Wabigoon River.

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The source of this mercury poisoning is linked to the Pulp and Paper Mill, Dryden Chemicals Ltd., bordering the English-Wabigoon River. 

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Active since the early 1960s, this contamination crisis is no accident but a result of negligence and racism from the government. The government did not oversee their regulations and allowed for this plant to dispose of mercury and other harmful substances into the river, endangering the Indigenous peoples and the environmental ecosystems. 

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After these harmful actions, people began to see the effects. Mercury is a neurotoxin, meaning it damages the nervous system, kidneys, and lungs, causing tremors, memory loss and various mental issues. Recovery is challenging, especially in communities that already lack the infrastructure to support large masses of people. 

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Not only is this crisis affecting the Indigenous peoples of Grassy Narrows, but the environment is taking a hit too. Since the lake became contaminated, all the wildlife has been displaying signs of harm. 

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The fish grew bumps and sores and changed behaviorally. They were the beginning of a trophic cascade that caused an imbalance in the ecosystem, causing some species to become undesirably abundant while others were wiped out or mutated due to the lack of predators.

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The community was outraged, the ecosystems were collapsing, and the government was doing nothing. 

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After anger from the community and word from the public, the government finally tightened up the reins on the Pulp and Paper Mill, Dryden Chemicals Ltd. Their company was forced to end their dumping of mercury—one of the most dangerous and threatening chemicals identified by the World Health Organization. The mill was brushed off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

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But this did not stop the suffering. The lake remained contaminated—and it would be for a long time. The wildlife was still endangered, the ecosystems still destroyed. The people of Grassy Narrows were still poisoned, they were still suffering, and their only food source was diminished. 

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Reports show that no more mercury has been dumped in the river, but the mill continues to spew out high levels of sulphate and organic matter which has helped to feed the bacteria and mercury, forever worsening the issue. 

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The Federal Government knew they had to rescue themselves, so they signed the construction of a Mercury Care Home. 

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This was signed in 2020 and has yet to be built.

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It is now 2025, and this community remains in danger. The river has been poisoned since 1960, and the keystone species of that environment were completely wiped out. 

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This is the serial case of Canada’s environmental racism, the reality for many of our Indigenous communities. The government knows the dangers of these plants and puts them in their most vulnerable communities, communities that have been vulnerable since the beginning. The government did not want to impact their forests, their rivers, their cities, or their people, so they targeted places where acts like this pass. 

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2. Alberta Oil Mines: A Greedy Act of Canada, 2006 - Today

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Currently in northern Alberta, more than one hundred square kilometres is covered by tailing ponds, Canada’s largest place for oil production. 

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Every day more than three hundred fifty million cubic meters of water are drawn from the Athabasca River from the oil sand companies. For reference, that is around 140,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

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Three million homes could be heated per day by the amount of gas burned by oil companies.

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These are all the extensive requirements and side effects for the production of oil in Alberta, Canada, solely. This process is one of the most water and energy-intensive along with being the most damaging. But why do we continue to use open-pit extraction techniques? Because it's easy.

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The government often prioritizes convenience, especially when they can place them far away from their main demographic of focus, the wealthier people. 

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Because of this focus, communities like Athabasca—an Indigenous community near the oil mining site—feel the repercussions and targets. 

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Athabasca has been directly impacted due to their proximity to the mines. Their community is located on the Athabasca River where there are more than twelve tailing ponds holding the deadly leftover chemicals from the extensive mining.

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These lakes, like the Athabasca, Peace River, Wabasca, and Cold Lake are seeing extreme effects, with it causing environmental issues and human diseases.

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From all the water used, 10% of it makes it back to the Athabasca River ‘clean’ from pollutants. How is this expected to be sustainable? The rest is far too polluted, leading companies to store them in tailing ponds, mini-pools of toxic slime. 

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It is inevitable that the environment around will take a hit from these ponds and processes. The chemicals have found their way into the ground and pass through our watersheds into the many rivers surrounding, leaving communities like Athabasca devastated. 

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Their fish have become deformed and mutated, growing lumps and sores that are well past standards of nutrition. Some community members, still trying to support their communities from their main source, describe the fish as rotting alive.

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The land has been rung like a tea towel, the ecosystems destroyed, the fish gone. The toxins in the tailing ponds could seep into our land and shores. But the government has continued to do nothing, and it will remain that way as long as it does not affect them – this is environmental racism. 

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3. The Pipelines of British Columbia: Canada’s Way To Inject Poison, 2008 - Today

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The pipelines are another example of the government’s lack of care for their smaller and Indigenous communities. 

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The pipeline, TransCanada Coastal, has created thousands of jobs and made Canada millions of dollars, but the numbers have come with costs. 

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Starting in the northeastern part of British Columbia, the pipelines go across all of this province, traveling right through many Indigenous communities, like the Wet’suwet’en territory.

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These lines are threatening the safety of these communities and the environment, as well as infringing on treaty rights because of the lack of agreements. The pipeline goes through unceded traditional and treaty land.

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Currently, the spills and toxic gas are causing extreme ecosystem and habitat damage. Along with this, the terminals—where oil and products are loaded or unloaded—are point source areas of pollution and carbon emissions, contributing to climate change and pushing Canada farther away from our emissions target. 

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The spills of toxic gas and chemicals have impacted the habitats. Pipelines are land extensive projects, and through their creation, companies tear down hundreds of biosystems and habitats, pushing certain species to extinction because of the lack of shelter, food, and water.  

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These lines are dangerous and deadly, but the government will continue to push the construction and upkeep of them as long as they are raking in money despite the damage being done. 

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4. Uranium Mining: Radioactive Destruction, 1950 - Today

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Currently, in Northern Saskatchewan, the government and leaders are pushing the use and mining of uranium, the most radioactive element in all of Canada, for energy and fuel as it is profoundly abundant in that location. According to The Narwhal, as of 2025, roughly 547 million pounds of uranium are available in Saskatchewan.

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Currently, in Northern Saskatchewan, only two mines exist, but as time progresses more are waiting to get approved. 

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Uranium mining is appealing in places like this, in Canada, because they are very effective and easily sourced. But despite this they are more so damaging in the extraction process.

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In the mining and extraction process, uranium produces a very toxic radioactive gas called radon. Radon gas can cause many respiratory problems, including lung cancer, which has immensely impacted the Indigenous communities not taken into account in the creation of these mines, like the Cree First Nations peoples. 

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In this community and area, the radon gas and mining has contaminated the landscape and affected the water and the aquatic wildlife through infusion of the land. And as seen in the governments other mining industries, like in Alberta, the tailing ponds have created devastating effects, killing fish and impacting the source of survival for many of these Cree communities.

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As seen in all the other serial cases, the motive of the government is because of how much money and jobs an industry like this creates and how unaffected they are. While communities like the Cree suffer, the government flourishes.

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5. The Walkerton Tragedy: The Dropped Baton Of The Government; 2000 - 2001

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Walkerton, an Ontarian town is home to many Indigenous peoples and communities, and over the past twenty years, it has helped pave the way for justice and outrage over the lack of safe drinking water in Indigenous communities.

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The tragedy of E. coli contaminated water in Walkerton began in the early 2000s and was a crisis that went unheard of from the government.

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During the time, officials declared the E. coli hazard to have come from industrial farming and agricultural waste. 

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At this time, the town officials were being blamed for the dangers of the local water systems. The federal government shifted control over the community’s water to the municipal officials of Walkerton, which created a very messy shift in roles and responsibilities causing the officials to not pull their weight.

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Because of this, yet again, both the environment and people were deeply affected.

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Many people died and many endured long-term problems. The water systems and populations were diminished and the nearby lakes were battling their own issues from eutrophication. When a bacteria, like E. coli, is extremely abundant, it can cause algae blooms that deplete the nutrients and oxygen in the water—taking from many important species that keep the water systems balanced.

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Just a year later the issue was resolved, only from the fight of the community and others. In the end, the government’s lack of care, urgency and childish mannerisms have hurt people and the environment.

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Conclusion

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These are just some of the serial cases in Canada. The hidden and recurring acts of our government. 

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They seek out the communities, vulnerable ones, to whom they can pitch their plans for industrial development and expansion without taking into consideration the devastating effects on both the communities, largely Indigenous, and the environment, who have endured the impact of the government's selfish acts to gain money. 

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From all these cases the only one resolved was the one with the most public support, the Walkerton Tragedy. The one with the most public care and accountability towards the government. In order to help support our Indigenous communities and protect our environment we can not rely on our government to do the greater—we have to create awareness and accountability ourselves.