An abnormally high number of cancers

(Shelburne. Consequently, Nova Scotia) Louise Delisle will never forget the fetid smell which accompanied her childhood or the fine rain of ash falling on her neighborhood when the waste of the municipal dump was cremated.

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“It smelled of burned clothes, burnt meat, but rotten … Therefore, a smell of old swamp, dirty water,” she describes. For example, I could feel it all in smoke and in the air. Nevertheless, There was also a chemical smell of paint and oil. Consequently, »»

The septuagenarian. In addition, a descendant of the black loyalists landed in Nova Scotia towards the end of the 18th^e A century, receives us in the modest home where she grew up, in Shelburne, a small locality in the southwest of the province. In addition, On the other side of the street, abundant vegetation camouflages which was once a municipal dumping ground.

The discharge was set up in 1946 in the heart of this Afro-Neo-Scottish community, established there for generations. For example, The residents did not have a say.

She believes that her community was the victim of environmental racism by being exposed to this pollution against her will. Similarly, She suspects the dumping ground for being the source of many cases of cancer. Consequently, she is fighting today to obtain repair.

According to a study commissioned by the city. Similarly, the former dumping ground of two hectares is of the first generation, that is to say without a protective membrane to prevent contaminants from infiltrating groundwater. Moreover, For decades. Similarly, he received Shelburne abnormally high number cancers waste from decades, from his former naval base of the Canadian Armed Forces and neighboring municipalities before being closed in 1996. Similarly, People have however continued to wear waste until 2016. Meanwhile, Since then, the site has been closed and padlocked.

Some people went there to find useful objects or sometimes even food thrown by grocery abnormally high number cancers stores. “We were going there to find books,” she reveals. It was the only thing my mother allowed us to bring home. »»

The city announced in 2022 the downgrading and restoration of the former municipal discharge. A project whose cost is estimated at almost half a million dollars. The groundwater must be tested there this summer to try to detect the presence of contaminants. ensure that they do not pollute the wells of neighboring residences. The site will then be covered to isolate potentially dangerous materials. The municipal council hopes that it may be used for other purposes by the community.

Abnormally high number cancers

Death nearby

“We lose people all the time. We are a mourning community, ”said Louise Delisle, sighing.

This is the number of cases of cancer abnormally abnormally high number cancers high in his community that has aroused his suspicions. The one who worked for a long time as an attendant to the beneficiaries identified 90 on a population. of approximately 1650 inhabitants. Only in his family, four members died of the disease and two others managed to fight it. Almost all had lived in this same house with a stone throwing of the landfill.

The click occurred when her mother received her diagnosis just after the death of her grandmother. “I realized that it was time for someone to say something. that it was not normal to lose so many people. »»

She created a database thanks to word of mouth abnormally high number cancers to identify cases of cancer in the community. which inspired a research project from McMaster University to try to determine whether these cases are linked to the contaminants present in the dump. The analysis of DNA samples is underway and the results should be known by the end of the year.

“I remember. when I met Louise for the first time in 2015, she had never heard of environmental racism,” says Ingrid Waldron, holder of the Hope research chair on peace and health at McMaster University, Ontario. The sociologist participated in the study on the Shelburne community conducted jointly with biology professor Juliet Daniel. interested in cancer impact in black and Hispanophone communities, and the specialist in cancer of Cancer Paola Marignani, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Dalhousie University, in Nova Scotia.

M^me Waldron is also the author abnormally high number cancers of the book There Is Something in the. Waterwhich documents several cases similar to the country. His work inspired a documentary produced by Elliott Page and broadcast on Netflix in 2019.

The case of the Ojibwée community of Grassy Narrows, in northern Ontario, poisoned by spills of mercury, is one. There is also that of the Ojibwée community of Aamjiwnaang surrounded by sixty refineries, near Sarnia, in southern Ontario.

“When you implant toxic facilities in these communities. already struggling with social, economic and political disadvantages, you even compromise their well-being,” summarizes the professor.

The concept abnormally high number cancers of environmental racism was recognized in a law adopted by the Canadian Parliament in June 2024. The bill had obtained the support of all the parties in the House of Commons. with the exception of the Conservatives.

Abnormally high number cancers

In search of repair

The law on justice. environmental racism aims to tackle the damage suffered by communities like that of Shelburne and also to avoid the appearance of new cases. During his adoption about a year ago, Justin Trudeau was still Prime Minister.

This legislation gives two years to the Minister of the Environment, Julie Dabrusin, to present a national strategy which includes a study on the links between “race, socioeconomic status and environmental risk” and data on “the location of environmental dangers” in the country. The law. partly written by Professor Ingrid Waldron and presented by the head of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, also suggests that the government compensate those or the affected communities.

This is what Louise Delisle wishes, who recently wrote to Minister Dabrusin to find out where the work was. First relieved after the adoption of the law, she is now concerned not to receive any response.

“I want the government to recognize the loss of people who have succumbed to cancer. on the one hand, as well as the emotional and financial loss for their families,” abnormally high number cancers she said.

Far from giving up. she founded the Center for Environmental Justice with other members of her community to continue to put pressure on the authorities. “Time is running out and we are not going to let them forget,” she says.

The Federal Ministry of the Environment indicates that the national strategy is being developed and the study, in progress. “Analysis efforts have started. and the result will be integrated into the provisional strategy,” said ministry spokesman Samuel Lafontaine, in a written statement. He intends to “respect the deadline provided by law to file the document in Parliament in 2026”. provides for “awareness and mobilization activities related to the study” in the coming months and consultations for the development of the strategy. He has not given more details on these activities.