We must all step up to our role in reconciliation

A statement by Sabrina Bowman, Interim Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), outlining the organization's commitment to reconciliation and its efforts to address the legacy of residential schools through environmental and health justice.

• The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is implementing internal and external reconciliation efforts, including a process of "decolonizing our organization" and the launch of an Indigenous Caucus on October 1st. This caucus aims to unite Indigenous physicians and those practicing in majority-Indigenous communities to provide advice on CAPE's work regarding health, justice, and the environment.
• CAPE has engaged in legislative advocacy to address environmental injustices affecting Indigenous peoples, specifically supporting Bill C-226 (Canada's first environmental justice law) and campaigning for updates to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) to include the right to a healthy environment and address "disproportionate exposures by Indigenous peoples on their lands".
• Through the Place-Based Power Project—a partnership between CAPE, the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, and Keepers of the Water—the organization is addressing health and climate crises caused by fossil fuel extraction. The project specifically targets challenges related to fracking in Northern BC and tar sands tailings deposits in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
• The document emphasizes that environmental and health outcomes are dependent on justice, noting that the health trajectories of Indigenous and racialized people serve as an indicator for how humanity will fare during the biodiversity and climate crises.

APA

Bowman, S. (2024). We must all step up to our role in reconciliation. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. https://cape.ca/we-must-all-step-up-to-our-role-in-reconciliation/

Chicago

Bowman, Sabrina. We must all step up to our role in reconciliation. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, 2024. https://cape.ca/we-must-all-step-up-to-our-role-in-reconciliation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Bowman |first1=Sabrina |title=We must all step up to our role in reconciliation |publisher=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |date=28 September 2024 |url=https://cape.ca/we-must-all-step-up-to-our-role-in-reconciliation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{bowman2024must, author = {Bowman, Sabrina}, title = {{We must all step up to our role in reconciliation}}, publisher = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://cape.ca/we-must-all-step-up-to-our-role-in-reconciliation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }