Clean Air Act won’t help the Arctic, Simon says

Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, says the Tories’ Clean Air Act to tackle air quality and the emission of greenhouse gases won’t help climate change in the Arctic.

The proposed Clean Air Act is intended to reduce emissions from off-road vehicles and engines over the next 12 months (including outboards, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, ATVs.)

“Inuit want to play a role, along with all Canadians in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants. For us, however, outboard motors, snowmobiles, and ATVs are necessary means of transportation to obtain food, and to get from A to B, as we have no highways in the Arctic,” said Simon.

“Inuit would need programs in order to meet new regulations, just as Canadians in the South enjoyed subsidies to upgrade old furnaces, for example. Without a subsidy, or program, the Arctic may have to be exempt from this regulation.”