Representatives from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and various environmental groups hold a news conference in Ottawa to raise concerns about health and environmental harms caused by the plastic industry in Canada. Aamjiwnaang First Nation called on the Ontario government to shut down a chemical plant in Sarnia after high levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene were detected in the Ontario First Nation and several of its community members fell ill and were hospitalized. Speaking with reporters are Janelle Nahmabin (elected councillor, Aamjiwnaang First Nation), Dr. Sehjal Bhargava (Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment ), Melissa Gorrie (law reform manager, Ecojustice), Sabaa Khan (climate director and director general of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, David Suzuki Foundation), and Karen Wirsig (senior program manager for plastics, Environmental Defence).

The news conference comes as Canada hosts the fourth session of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4). Delegates from around the world are meeting in the nation’s capital from April 23 to 29 to develop an international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by the end of 2024.