{"id":1997,"date":"2021-06-02T12:01:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T16:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/rgi\/?p=1997"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:42:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:42:55","slug":"the-dog-that-doesnt-bark-a-case-study-on-federal-regulation-of-industrial-air-pollution-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/rgi\/2021\/the-dog-that-doesnt-bark-a-case-study-on-federal-regulation-of-industrial-air-pollution-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dog that Doesn\u2019t Bark \u2013 A Case Study on Federal Regulation of Industrial Air Pollution in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The Dog that Doesn\u2019t Bark \u2013 A Case Study on Federal Regulation of Industrial Air Pollution in Canada\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

By Mike Beale<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RGI\u2019s latest case study[1]<\/a> The Dog that Doesn\u2019t Bark — Federal Regulation of Industrial Air Pollution in Canada<\/em><\/a> pays homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.  In a well-known story, Holmes solved a murder mystery by pointing to the \u201ccurious incident of the dog in the night-time\u201d<\/a>.  \u201cThe dog did nothing in the night-time\u201d, countered the Scotland Yard detective on the case.  \u201cThat was the curious incident\u201d replied Holmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dog in question (no disrespect intended) is ECCC\u2019s regulation of industrial air pollution, and the case study addresses the question \u201cwhy doesn\u2019t the dog bark?\u201d.  It seems like a pertinent question given that Health Canada<\/a> estimates that air pollution accounts for 15,300 premature deaths annually in Canada, and that all the key air pollutants are on Canada\u2019s list of toxic substances, giving ECCC full authority to regulate emissions.  And yet there are only a handful of federal regulations addressing air pollution from industrial\/stationary sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are reasons that help explain ECCC\u2019s relatively low profile in this area:<\/p>\n\n\n\n