|
|
Smog Summit 2000
The first Smog Summit was held in June 2000 as a result of an alarming report on smog released by Toronto's Medical Officer of Health in May 2000. The report entitled, Air Pollution Burden of Illness in Toronto, presented compelling evidence that each year 1,000 Toronto residents die prematurely - with 5,500 others hospitalized - as a result of six air pollutants that are common in Toronto's air all year round. Air pollution, in other words, kills. Moreover, it kills at 20 times the murder rate.
The report gained considerable press attention and sparked so much public concern that City officials decided to do something immediate: organize a conference of all three levels of government to explore solutions to the problem. A Secretariat was formed with the mandate to initiate Toronto's first ever Smog Summit.
Funding and staff support were committed right away by: the Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF), the Clean Air Partnership, Toronto Hydro Energy Services, Enbridge Gas Distribution, Environment Canada, the City's Better Buildings Partnership, Toronto Public Health and the City's Environmental Task Force. The purpose of the Summit was to develop a suite of short-term concrete measures that would improve air quality during summer 2000, while encouraging inter-governmental and public-private initiatives to address the smog problem over the long-term. All three orders of government quickly joined the initiative, along with 300 citizens and leaders from business, labour, health and non-profit community groups. The wellspring of ideas, solutions and knowledge presented by these individuals at the Summit was so inspiring that the Smog Summit became an annual event.
|
|
