Tory chief ridicules federal effort to gage air pollution from wood-burning

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A social media skirmish has erupted between Canada’s atmosphere minister and the chief of the official opposition over makes an attempt by the federal authorities to gauge wood-smoke air pollution from bagel retailers and pizzerias.

The disagreement started final week after the Montreal Gazette revealed that an company of Surroundings and Local weather Change Canada (ECCC) had just lately approached some wood-burning companies throughout Canada, together with some bagel retailers and pizzerias in Montreal, to find out whether or not the air pollution they emit is sufficient to warrant common reporting to the Nationwide Air pollution Launch Stock (NPRI).

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That prompted Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre to file a sarcastic assertion at a pizzeria in Vancouver, the place he ridiculed the transfer, calling it an “outright campaign in opposition to pizza ovens.”

“I need to discuss in regards to the horrible, existential disaster to the complete universe, which, after all, is pizza ovens,” Poilievre mentioned in a video posted on X, previously often called Twitter.

“I do know that Prime Minister Trudeau and his federal company have launched an outright campaign in opposition to pizza ovens. They began in Montreal, however we all know that they’ll get out right here to Vancouver. So Vancouverites who’re locked of their houses and afraid of pizza ovens must be comfy that Justin Trudeau will come to your rescue.”

On Wednesday morning, federal Surroundings and Local weather Change Minister Steven Guilbeault fired again at Poilievre, accusing the opposition chief of “undermining science” and trying to find “environmental conspiracy theories.”

In a six-part thread on X, Guilbeault defined that the NPRI is just doing its job, which is to “promote consciousness and improve understanding of air pollution in communities throughout Canada by annual reporting.”

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He famous that the ECCC doesn’t regulate wooden smoke from most of these companies and “based mostly on knowledge shared with ECCC thus far, they don’t meet the brink for annual reporting.”

A spokesperson for ECCC informed the Gazette that this “compliance promotion work” was completed as a “first step as a part of a scoping train to find out if these amenities meet the NPRI reporting thresholds. This system will proceed to observe up with these amenities.”

Whereas the NPRI doesn’t set emission limits, it does require that amenities that launch pollution past sure limits report their emissions annually. This permits the federal government and the general public to maintain observe of air air pollution and take motion when wanted.

One of many harmful elements of wooden smoke is okay particulate matter (PM), which when inhaled causes cardiopulmonary sicknesses reminiscent of coronary heart illness, respiratory infections, continual lung illness, cancers, preterm births and different sicknesses. The NPRI requires companies to file stories when their PM emissions exceed 0.3 tonnes per yr for finer particulate matter (PM 2.5) and 0.5 tonnes per yr for coarser (PM 10).

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“Compliance promotion campaigns reminiscent of this one are sometimes profitable in supporting companies in reporting from sure amenities,” Amelie Desmarais, a media relations spokesperson for ECCC, informed the Gazette in a written assertion. “In circumstances the place these campaigns don’t elicit a response from amenities or the place suspicions of continued non-compliance come up, referrals are despatched to the Enforcement Department of Surroundings and Local weather Change Canada.”

Researchers and public well being authorities have repeatedly raised the alarm in Montreal over wood-burning amenities, reminiscent of bagel bakeries and pizzerias, releasing dangerous pollution into the air.

Scott Weichenthal, assistant professor in McGill College’s division of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational well being, says wooden burning shouldn’t be allowed in densely populated areas.

“From a public well being perspective there isn’t a query that we shouldn’t do it,” mentioned Weichenthal, whose analysis focuses on evaluating environmental threat components for continual illness. “You need to cut back folks’s publicity to dangerous chemical substances within the air. Wooden burning produces not simply PM 2.5 but additionally different chemical substances which are identified human carcinogens … what’s popping out of the chimney is identical factor as what’s coming off a cigarette. So any time you burn biomass, you might be producing every kind of dangerous issues.

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“If this was one chimney in a small city, and nobody was actually uncovered, it wouldn’t actually be a problem. However if you find yourself doing it in main cities and hundreds of individuals may be uncovered then you will anticipate some public well being affect.”

Daniel Vezina, director of Households for Clear Air, mentioned the issue may be solved with out closing any bagel retailers or pizzerias.

“Good bagels and pizzas may be cooked in electrical or fuel ovens with out endangering the well being of Canadians,” he mentioned, including governments ought to assist these companies swap to cleaner warmth sources.

He accused Poilievre of ignoring science, pointing to the most recent Well being Canada examine that estimated 2,300 Canadians die prematurely due to air pollution from residential wooden burning, whereas hundreds extra endure continual well being circumstances. The examine put the socio-economic prices of this air pollution at $18 billion.

Vezina mentioned Poilievre’s sarcasm is an insult to those that endure from respiratory circumstances and whose well being is compromised by publicity to woodsmoke.

“Wooden-fired ovens are a giant well being concern in lots of dense neighbourhoods. By turning the NPRI work into ridicule, is Mr. Poilievre mocking the 6 million Canadians dwelling with a lung illness? What in regards to the restaurant pumping out wooden smoke within the schoolyard of my six-year-old dwelling with bronchial asthma? Does (Poilievre) suppose I ought to homeschool him in order that the restaurant subsequent door can proceed to pollute with none monitoring? Fortunately, the NPRI scientists are there to use the legislation to all companies.”

mlalonde@postmedia.com

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