Green Propserity is a joint effort by 23 of Ontario's leading environmental organizations to outline an action agenda for the province that we believe will help make Ontario a world leader in green practices and programs. For more information on the groups involved, click here.

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Canadian Environmental Law Association

Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy

Citizens Environment Alliance

Community Power Fund

Conservation Council of Ontario

David Suzuki Foundation

Earthroots

Ecojustice

Environment North

Environmental Defence

Forest Ethics

Great Lakes United

Greenpeace

Local Food Plus

Ontario Nature

Ontario Smart Growth Network

Ontario Sustainable Energy Association

Pembina Institute

Sierra Club

Toronto Environmental Alliance

Wildlands League

World Wildlife Fund

	Communities such as Sarnia, Hamilton, Windsor, Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie are getting more than their fair share of air polluting and climate destabilizing emissions.

The combined impact of many different sources of pollution is harming our communities.  To reduce toxic air pollution, Ontario must amend the Environmental Protection Act to ensure a full accounting of existing air pollution sources and resulting health and environmental impacts before allowing any new or increased industrial emissions in communities. There must also be effective plans developed to reduce pollution in toxic air pollutant hot spots.

Ontario’s current environmental laws do not adequately protect human health and the environment because they do not properly address the combined effects of numerous different pollution sources.  In particular, they do not address the reality that low income people and other sensitive populations are often disproportionately exposed to, and affected by, particularly high levels of pollution.

Under current environmental laws, areas with a high concentration of air pollutants have been allowed to develop in both Southern and Northern Ontario.  For example, there are numerous large petrochemical, chemical and other industrial facilities near the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve and the City of Sarnia that release thousands of tonnes of air pollution, including numerous chemicals that are associated with reproductive and developmental disorders and cancer.  When a new facility is planned or an existing facility is expanded, the Ministry of the Environment does not adequately account for this existing toxic cocktail.  People living in communities such as Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia deserve to be protected from this threat to their health.

By requiring a full and frank assessment of existing pollutant levels before adding more, we can ensure that more is being done to reduce accumulated pollution levels and prevent further growth in total polluting emissions. This will reduce the high-cost health impacts of air pollution, especially in toxic hot spots.  It will also help to make places such as Sarnia, Hamilton, Windsor, Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie safer and more attractive places to live, work and play.  And it will ensure that the burden of air pollution is not disproportionately carried by low income and Aboriginal communities.

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