2 weeks Ago By Elmira Aliakbari
Article content On Dec. 1, 1962, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers met the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 50th Grey Cup at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium. During the game, a mass of thick fog rolled ashore from Lake Ontario, severely limiting on-field visibility and forcing the CFL to suspend play with less than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter (the game resumed the next day, with a Bombers victory).
The moisture from the fog interacted with tailpipe emissions and industrial pollution, producing one of the worst smog episodes in Toronto’s history. For three days, heavy smog blanketed the city, exposing Torontonians to unhealthy air and symbolizing a dark period in Canada’s air quality history. Fast-forward to today and Canada’s air quality has improved substantially over the past six decades.
Our air is not only cleaner than it was in the past but also compares favourably to other developed countries. According to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, Canada ranks eighth out of 31 high-income countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for overall air quality, with a score of 84.0 out of 100 — well above the OECD average (71.
2). Iceland ranks first (97.7) while Italy ranks last (47.
4). More specifically, Canada had the fifth-lowest rate of average exposure to fine particulate matter — a form of pollution created by multiple sources including motor vehicles, oil and gas extraction, heating systems and forest fires. These microscopic bits of dust, smoke and dirt are 30 times smaller than the width of a piece of human hair and can embed deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
In Canada, day-to-day exposure to these pollutants in homes, at work and school is the lowest in decades. Canada also ranked fifth best on a separate measure that estimates the health burden caused by fine particle pollution, based on the number of healthy years of life lost. So, compared to most other high-income countries, Canada’s air pollution presents a lower overall health risk to the public.
And Canada ranked ninth best for the share of people exposed to fine particle pollution, with 98 of every 100 Canadians breathing air that’s cleaner than the World Health Organization’s ambitious benchmarks. Finally, Canada is the second-largest country in the world (which means Canadians rely heavily on transportation), has long, cold winters (which demand heating systems) and a large natural resource sector. And yet, as noted above, Canada’s clean air isn’t limited to remote wilderness; the air people breathe in cities, even dense metro areas, is among the cleanest in the world.
Since the dark days of the 1970s, Canada’s air quality has dramatically improved. Before policymakers add more regulations and costs to Canadians in the quest for cleaner air, they should understand the reality of air quality in Canada. As Earth Day approaches, Canadians should celebrate the fact that they breathe some of the cleanest air on Earth.
Elmira Aliakbari and Annika Segelhorst are economists at the Fraser Institute.
