The federal government is failing to protect Canadians from toxic refinery emissions pumped into the air at rates far beyond those in the United States, opposition politicians said Thursday in response to a Toronto Star/Global News/National Observer investigation.Never-before-published data showed substantially higher rates of sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides emitted by Canadian refineries compared with the U.S. averages in 2014, prompting the Tories and NDP to vow cooperation with the Liberal government in taking swift action.“(The investigation) clearly highlights that we have fallen behind the United States and that is impairing human health in Canada so we do need to act,” said Ed Fast, Conservative MP and vice chair of the environment committee. “I will admit I was shocked as well. Especially since Canadians generally feel that we are more progressive than the United States.”Read more: In Sarnia’s Chemical Valley, is ‘toxic soup’ making people sick?Province launches investigation into flames at Sarnia chemical plant Sarnia-area plant evacuated after chemical leakBased on 2014 data, the investigation reported Canada’s 15 refineries emitted 62 per cent more sulphur dioxide (SO2) — which can harm the respiratory system — than 127 U.S. plants combined.“This is a wake-up call to all of us because I believe Canada can do better,” said Fast. “This is really a collective responsibility for all of us — previous Canadian governments, both Conservative and Liberal, and the current Liberal government probably didn’t pay enough attention to the degree to which we were minimizing these emissions into our atmosphere.”NDP MP Linda Duncan, who sits on the environment committee, called the emissions disparity between Canada and the U.S. “deeply troubling” if not surprising. The Alberta MP dubbed the findings “another promise broken” and ...
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