Canada's environment ministers came to Yellowknife on July 4 announcing their commitment to new, more stringent air quality standards.
Asked what those new standards were, none could give an immediate answer.
The announcement was part of a Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) meeting, which comprises federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers.
lowers CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 daily limit for fine particulate matter to 23 micrograms per cubic metre, from 27 micrograms. It also cuts the annual average target to eight micrograms per cubic metre, from 8.8.
Fine particulate matter is tiny pollution in the air that can get deep into your lungs and make it harder to breathe. According to Health Canada, it is usually a mix of smoke, soot, aerosols, or biological matter like mould, pollen and dander.
When asked for the numbers on these new standards during the ministers' announcement, they looked at each other to see who was going to answer.
In the end, the NWT's Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Jay Macdonald, said the numbers were in the final process of being approved and would be shared with media in a communique.
That document hyperlinked a published page with the standards listed.
Macdonald said the standards show how the territorial government is trying to be proactive.
SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of the work that we've already started in light of the 2023 fires will continue,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淸The new standards] will be a tool that will support that work and allow us to continue to be proactive in that area.SA国际影视传媒�
The council says federal, provincial, and territorial governments collaboratively developed the standards with representatives from industry, environmental and health non-governmental organizations and Indigenous organizations.
Macdonald, who was president of the council at the time of the conference, has passed his leadership status to Alberta's environment minister, Rebecca Schulz. She'll host the next CCME meeting in 2026.
