HUMAN RIGHTS “My Fear is Losing Everything” WATCH The Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food in Canada “My Fear is Losing Everything” The Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food in Canada Copyright © 2020 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-8738 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. 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For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org OCTOBER 2020 ISBN: 978-1-62313-8738 “My Fear is Losing Everything” The Climate Crisis and First Nations’ Right to Food in Canada Map ............................................................................................................................................. i Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Climate Change as a Driver of Food Poverty ........................................................................................... 3 Impacts on Health and Culture .............................................................................................................. 4 Community Resilience in the Face of the Climate Crisis .......................................................................... 5 Failure to Address Climate Change and its Impacts on Food Poverty ....................................................... 5 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 7 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 9 First Nations in the Report ......................................................................................................... 12 Weenusk First Nation, Ontario ............................................................................................................. 12 Attawapiskat First Nation, Ontario ....................................................................................................... 13 Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Yukon .................................................................................................... 14 Skeena River Watershed First Nations, British Columbia .......................................................................15 Background ............................................................................................................................... 16 First Nations in Canada ....................................................................................................................... 16 Looming Food Poverty in First Nations ................................................................................................. 18 Poor Health Outcomes in First Nations ................................................................................................. 19 I. Impacts of the Climate Crisis on First Nations’ Right to Food ................................................... 21 Changes to Canada’s Climate and Physical Environment ..................................................................... 21 Old Crow, Yukon ........................................................................................................................... 22 Skeena River Watershed, British Columbia .................................................................................... 25 Attawapiskat and Peawanuck, Ontario .......................................................................................... 27 Climate-Driven Loss of Traditional Food Sources .................................................................................. 29 Changes in Species Availability .................................................................................................... 29 Challenges in Accessing Harvesting Areas ..................................................................................... 37 Limited Alternatives to Traditional Food Sources ................................................................................. 40 Climate Change Increasing Food Transport Costs: Winter Roads .................................................... 46 Impact of Increasing Food Poverty on First Nations Health and Culture ................................................. 49 Negative Health Outcomes ........................................................................................................... 49 Negative Impacts on First Nations Cultures ................................................................................... 57 Community Resilience in the Face of Diminishing Traditional Food ....................................................... 61 II. Foreseeable Harms: Government Obligations to Address Climate Impacts on First Nations’ Food Poverty ...................................................................................................................................... 65 Obligation to Monitor Climate Impacts and Help Communities Adapt ................................................... 67 Insufficient Monitoring of Climate Impacts .................................................................................... 68 Inadequate Adaptation Planning and Programming ....................................................................... 72 Nutrition North Canada Food Subsidy ........................................................................................... 79 Other Food Policies and Programs ................................................................................................. 86 Obligation to Drastically Cut Emissions to Prevent Foreseeable Harms ................................................. 88 Canada as a Major Greenhouse Gas Emitter .................................................................................. 89 Not on Track to Meet Weak Targets ............................................................................................... 93 Disproportionate Impacts of Climate Policies on First Nations: Carbon Pricing ..................................... 98 III. Canada’s Domestic and International Human Rights Obligations ........................................ 107 Right to Food..................................................................................................................................... 109 Right to Health ................................................................................................................................... 111 Right to Culture .................................................................................................................................. 113 Right to a Healthy Environment .......................................................................................................... 114 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 115 To the Government of Canada ............................................................................................................ 115 To Environment and Climate Change Canada ...................................................................................... 116 To Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada .............................................................. 116 To Health Canada ............................................................................................................................... 117 To Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada .................................................................................................. 118 To Provincial and Territorial Governments ........................................................................................... 118 To the Government of the Yukon ......................................................................................................... 118 To the Government of Ontario ............................................................................................................. 118 To the British Columbia Government .................................................................................................. 119 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... 120 Map Areas where Human Rights Watch conducted interviews. © 2020 John Emerson for Human Rights Watch i Summary Joseph Koostachin, 58, remembers when he and his wife Helen, 56, went out on the land to hunt and berry pick with their young children. In the summer, the forests and meadows were lush and the water in the rivers plentiful. The winters were cold, with ice and snow cover allowing them to travel by dog sled from November through April. They would hunt caribou, a large type of deer, in the winter, while snow geese predictably arrived in April, and fish were bountiful