The COVID-19 pandemic brought air quality in schools into focus, but it’s not clear if long-term progress has been made.
Photo: Katherine K.Y. Cheng / The Narwhal
This is not about tariffsHealth risks can be a scary black box — especially when information about environmental contaminants is scarce. We make sense of it in two stories.
Maple syrup, Anne of Green Gables, fresh-fallen snow — we’re once again talking about what, exactly, defines Canadian culture. Journalists have a somewhat uglier suggestion. It’s a consistent, long-standing, nationwide trait: a lack of quality, accessible data.
Across Canada, federal and provincial governments either don’t collect, or don’t share, a lot of important information. The result is a data gap that covers all aspects of public life.
It’s a problem, particularly for public health. Without tracking the causes and locations of specific illnesses, it’s difficult to protect or treat the people most at risk.
This week, The Narwhal published two stories about how a lack of information on environmental contaminants turns health risk levels into a scary black box. They’re both about air pollution, which is often invisible. Citizens have no choice but to trust their governments to keep them safe.
The first story is about ethylene oxide, an odourless gas used to sterilize medical equipment — and a known carcinogen.
To report on it, freelancer Leah Borts-Kuperman had to file an access to information request, then wait for a draft of an upcoming Health Canada report. When it showed up three months later, it revealed the federal government has absolutely no idea how much ethylene oxide is being used across the country.
Companies self-report use of the chemical, and are only required to do so after using a certain amount that both federal and independent experts say is too high, given the known risks. And because the government has no idea exactly how much is being used, it also doesn’t know how much is being emitted into the air — whether it’s from sterilization facilities in Ontario or waste management companies in Alberta.
The pandemic clued everyone into what respiratory experts had known for a while: students face high risk of exposure to airborne viruses and pollution. And vaccines won’t address more frequent, intense wildfires. Cleaning the air that children breathe is a must — it would be great if we could start ASAP, given how many germs mine has already brought home this winter.
Flannery spoke to epidemiologist Heather Hanwell, a parent who sustained a concussion at the beginning of the pandemic that kept her off work — giving her time to dig in, file freedom of information requests and co-organize the group Ontario School Safety.
Parent-led air quality advocates want consistent monitoring in public classrooms. They want to use that information to protect their kids. They want better heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, which will also help mitigate the stress of extreme heat waves on little bodies.
After years of work, school air quality advocates have seen some success. In October, the school board in Waterloo, Ont., ratified its first clean indoor air policy, probably the first in the province.
It marks a baby step in one board’s willingness to make the conversation public. And more public information protects us all.
We lied: of course we’re addressing the elephant in the room. It’s no secret everyone’s feeling a strange-yet-justified sense of patriotism — reluctantly, or not — given the whiplash-inducing news about tariffs. As Denise wrote, some have probably landed on the maple syrup of it all: buy Canadian products. And that’s a reasonable response; I, personally, am looking for Canadian alternatives to my beloved vegan chicken tenders (they’re packed with protein, please hit me up with suggestions!).
There’s also been a sudden focus on all the natural resources Canada has to offer. Just today, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the country should consider an east-west oil pipeline, even praising the beleaguered Trans Mountain pipeline for supplying oil to overseas markets. Quebec nixed a natural gas pipeline in 2021 because of its potential environmental impacts, but is now rethinking that decision.
If you have any burning questions about the implications of changing Canada-U.S. relations on the natural world — or seriously, any recommendations for made-in-Canada, air-fryer-friendly vegan tenders — reply to this email, and we’ll do our best to keep you informed.
— Karan Saxena, audience engagement editor
This week in The Narwhal
Canada helped TC Energy pitch natural gas to Mexico, calling it a climate solution By Carl Meyer
Experts question Canada’s argument that a new pipeline is an ‘interim step’ to net zero.
Major B.C. LNG projects won’t have to pay for carbon emissions for 2 years, docs reveal By Shannon Waters READ MORE
Alberta cabinet ministers are fanning out to promote energy and hunting in the U.S. By Drew Anderson READ MORE
W̱SÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs ‘deeply frustrated’ as feds boost commercial herring catch By Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood READ MORE
Microplastics are settling into Ontario cottage country lakes By Brittany Welsh & Julian Aherne READ MORE
Coal mine pollution: international inquiry details plan to investigate Canada, U.S. contamination By Ainslie Cruickshank READ MORE
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