New Brunswick should enshrine into law the right to clean water, lawyer says

FREDERICTON —

An environmental lawyer urged New Brunswick lawmakers on Tuesday to make the province the first in Canada to enshrine the right to clean water into law.

Richelle Martin, one of three lawyers at East Coast Environmental Law, proposed the change as a committee of the legislature pursued a review of the province’s Clean Water Act.

Martin told committee members that a tougher law was needed to ensure everyone has equal access to the precious resource.

“This protection of the right to clean water will recognize the importance of water for human health and well-being,” Martin told a committee of the New Brunswick legislature.

Her message contrasted with a warning from a forestry executive, who told the committee that stronger regulations could hurt the economy.

The members of the legislature have been reviewing the Clean Water Act since 2025. But Martin said now is the time to legislate “enforceable rights to clean water.”

Canada already has a federal law — the Canadian Environmental Protection Act — that enshrines the general right to a healthy environment.

Martin added that Ontario, Quebec and each of the territories have similar frameworks protecting the right to a healthy environment.

However, the Fredericton-based lawyer said there is no law in Canada that specifically guarantees the right to clean water.

“A lot of people are surprised when they learn that we don’t actually have a right to clean water. And so this is an opportunity to protect that right that is so vital,” Martin told reporters after the committee meeting.

David Coon, leader of the provincial Green Party, said he supported the idea of including clean water rights only if it included legal “teeth.”

“Procedural rights — particularly the right to have standing in court — needs to be enshrined in legislation,” he told reporters later on Tuesday. Without an attached legal avenue, Coon said any clean water rights would be “meaningless.”

New Brunswick wouldn’t be the first worldwide to enshrine the legal right to clean water.

The United Nations General Assembly in 2010 recognized the right to water and sanitation. South Africa, Slovenia, Mexico and a few other countries have established legal rights to clean drinking water.

The European Union, New Zealand and Australia are among jurisdictions that have considered water rights.

Canada’s Parliament has in the past considered a law called the First Nations Clean Water Act that would ensure First Nations have reliable access to safe drinking water. But federal politicians last discussed the First Nations legislation in December 2024, and never adopted it.

Martin said New Brunswick should also create formal ways the government can co-operate with Indigenous communities on freshwater-related issues.

New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister John Herron did not immediately respond to a request for comment about potential amendments to the Clean Water Act.

Later at committee, three representatives of forestry giant J.D. Irving urged lawmakers not to adopt any changes that could negatively impact the provincial economy, noting that they felt the existing legislation was strong.

Jason Limongelli, the company’s woodlands vice-president, said that Canada’s forestry industry is losing global competitiveness because of “homegrown” policies.

“Despite all the rhetoric around forest fires, tariffs, duties, the Canadian dollar markets, the decline is primarily driven by domestic policy and systemic failures rather than market forces,” Limongelli said.

With the forestry industry representing about eight per cent of New Brunswick’s GDP, he said the committee should avoid making any decisions that could restrict its growth or productivity.

The Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick kicked off Tuesday’s hearing by asking the government to launch an expert working group to consider ways to protect the province’s water supply.

“Municipalities need to be at any sort of table where this type of subject is being discussed,” said Brittany Merrifield, president of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, which has 60 members.

The committee will also hear from physicians and representatives of a First Nation on Thursday morning. Next week, three more groups will present to lawmakers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press