Ministers announce deal to reduce smog, improve air

LAKE LOUISE, ALTA. — Canada’s environment ministers have announced an agreement they say will reduce smog and improve air quality across the country.

The new agreement updates air quality standards for the first time in 20 years, starting with sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds, two of the main contributors to smog.

But agreements with some industrial sectors to set limits on their emissions are still ongoing.

“We’re really still in the early stages,” said federal Environment Minister Peter Kent. “There’s still negotiation to be done in terms of industrial emissions standards.”

Kent couldn’t say how much air quality in Canada would improve under the new, non- enforceable, guidelines.

“The obvious outcome is to find performance standards which enable us to achieve reductions, to having cleaner, safer, less toxic air,” he said. “This is still a work in progress.”

The agreement contains two parts: guidelines that set limits on the presence of certain air contaminants in the atmosphere, and industrial requirements that govern emissions from different sectors.

Industries such as forestry and mining have already agreed on their levels. The energy industry, including the oilsands, is among the sectors still under negotiation.

Alberta Environment Minister Diana McQueen said there’s no timeline to complete those talks, but that they are proceeding in a “timely” fashion.

“There’s more work we need to do with certain sectors,” she said.

While the agreement is national in scope, it will be implemented by the provinces, who will be able to interpret it differently to suit their circumstances.