As the summer season draws to a close, some of us may have become aware of a new thematic day on the air we breathe. Proclaimed in 2020 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies will be celebrated on September 7. It aims to raise awareness among citizens around the world on issues of air pollution and public health in order to help put in place measures to improve air quality.
Yet, few people seem to be aware of this day and few awareness-raising activities have taken place to bring the message to our elected officials. Only the female members of the group Mères au front, Montreal section mobilized on September 7, 2023. It is time more than ever to bring the message to the beautiful city of Quebec.
Air pollution affects everyone. In recent years, in the summer, everyone has been affected by the smell of smoke from forest fires, which hung in the air and brought a veil of clouds that partially obscured the sun.
These episodes are unfortunately becoming more and more frequent. In winter, it is the smog attributable to the cumulative effects of wood heating, industrial activities and motor vehicles that poisons our air by releasing quantities of fine particles into the atmosphere.
For people in Quebec City’s Lower Town, air pollution levels are much higher than elsewhere in the city; it’s a well-documented and pervasive problem. Residents and scientists alike say that pollution in this area leads to a wide range of adverse health effects.
Health Canada specifies that these effects are of a certain seriousness, ranging from respiratory symptoms (asthma) to the onset of cardiovascular diseases and premature death. It is a silent killer that is little talked about.
In 2023, the Director of Public Health of the National Capital, Dr.r André Dontigny acknowledged this serious problem and said he had to continuously monitor the health of the population in order to help improve it.
The report “My Environment, My Health” recommends reducing road capacity and traffic volume, in particular by converting motorways into urban boulevards and by reducing emissions from heavy transport, rail and maritime.
Unfortunately, the City and our governments have not yet translated these recommendations into an action plan and concrete actions. On the contrary, Premier Legault announced that a third highway link would be built in Beauport, near Limoilou, which would cancel out all the beneficial effects of the east coast redevelopment project that has just been started.
At the same time, at the Port of Quebec, steps have been taken to develop a new container terminal in Beauport Bay, which would add new polluting emissions from trucking, locomotives and cargo ships at the dock, in neighbourhoods where existing pollution already reaches critical levels.
What should we understand from these contradictory actions? The inhabitants of the Lower Town and eastern shore districts are not second-class citizens; rather, they expect real action to clean up the air in their environment.
When will our leaders show us that the air quality and human health of this sector of our city are much more than the least of their concerns? It is urgent to take action and be consistent; the development of our city must have a single objective, namely the search for a better quality of life for its entire population.