Latest news with #NB_Lung
CBC
3 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Wildfires in West cast smoky — and potentially risky — haze over N.B.
Social Sharing New Brunswickers might have noticed a haze in the sky over the last couple of days. The haze is coming from the other side of the country, where wildfires continue to rage, and it could put some vulnerable people in the province at risk if it gets worse. "The smoke from the Prairies and, you know, Western Canada has been actually detected all the way over in Northern Europe a few days ago," Brian Wiens, the program manager for Canada Wildfire, told Information Morning Fredericton on Thursday. "The smoke continues to pour into the atmosphere, it's getting picked up, and so it's moving, say, from source, to say Fredericton, and probably in the order of two and a half to three days." People would have seen an extremely orange sun at times this week, caused by the layers of cloud and smoke. "It's passing through a bunch of those layers of smoke … and you get, you know, quite a remarkable look," said Wiens, who also has a background in smoke forecasting. WATCH | Some are more vulnerable when air is smoky: Wildfire smoke, even from far away, can decrease air quality. Here's how to protect yourself 3 hours ago Duration 2:22 Wildfire smoke that's made its way from Western Canada to New Brunswick can have an impact on air quality, NB Lung warns. Melanie Langille, the CEO of NB Lung, said wildfire smoke affects everyone to some degree since "there's no safe level of air pollution." But some people are more at risk than others. For example, seniors, infants, pregnant people, young children and people with chronic health conditions are all more at risk, she said. Langille said it's helpful for people to check the air quality health index on Environment Canada to plan their days. The air quality health index provides a number from one to 10 plus, with one to three being low risk, four to six being moderate, seven to 10 being high risk and 10 plus being very high risk. "I'm a very mild asthmatic, but I notice that I have an increase in my symptoms even when the [index] is like three, so I choose not to go outside for a run on those days," Langille said. "When air quality is poor, we recommend that people, as much as possible, stay inside and, you know, try to protect yourself from it or reduce your exposure to it." She said NB Lung also has a large supply of N95 masks that people can request on the group's website in case New Brunswick's air quality gets worse. The most recent Health Canada report from 2024 says that above-background air pollution in 2018, including air pollution from human sources in North America, contributed to 17,400 premature deaths in Canada. The 2021 report put the 2016 estimate at 15,300 premature deaths. Langille finds that a concerning jump.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Holt Liberals must choose how to spend $614-million tobacco settlement
It's an unusually good budget problem for a provincial government to have: what to do with an unexpected financial windfall of $614 million. The Holt government must decide whether to spend that money on programs to help people quit smoking or use it to reduce projected budget deficits. "When you think of the size of many of the provincial governments' deficits these days — several hundred million dollars — it could be the difference between a deficit and a surplus," says economist Pierre-Marcel Desjardins of the Université de Moncton. The money will flow from a $32.5 billion settlement in a lawsuit by Canadian provinces and territories against three major tobacco companies over the health-care costs of treating people with smoking-related illnesses. The settlement was approved by an Ontario judge earlier this year. Anti-smoking groups, including the Canadian Cancer Society, have called for a "significant" share of the money to be devoted to programs to help people quit smoking and prevent smoking among youth, and to enforcing tobacco restrictions. "This is a landmark opportunity for New Brunswick to address the leading cause of disease and death in the province," said Rob Cunningham, the society's senior policy analyst. "It's well-estainslished that sustained, well-funded programs are effective at reducing smoking, and now we have this dramatic problem of youth vaping." Melanie Langille, the president of NB Lung, said her organization wants a majority of the money to fund quit-smoking programs. But the Holt Liberals are also projecting a $549 million deficit this year and have been forced to cut spending to keep it from getting even larger. WATCH | 'A landmark opportunity': No decision on tobacco windfall: The Holt government's $614-million predicament 26 minutes ago Duration 2:42 Liberals could use tobacco settlement to reduce deficit or to fund anti-smoking programs. This year's instalment from the tobacco case, $147 million, would shrink that deficit. "We are working with our minister of finance and other people on how best to deploy the money that we will collect through this settlement," Health Minister John Dornan said in the legislature on May 14. "There is no decision yet." The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have endorsed using a large share of the money on anti-smoking programs. Health critic Bill Hogan says "all of it" should be devoted to that effort. "It's a perfect opportunity to fund programs that we don't have to find money to fund," he said. The settlement amount does not take into account legal fees that must be paid to the law firms who represented the provinces. According to one court filing, New Brunswick's lawyers will get 3.6 per cent of the total over the two decades or more of the payout. The specific payment amounts per year may fluctuate depending on a range of factors including the ability of the tobacco companies to pay. That hasn't stopped two provinces from using this year's money, and estimated amounts in future years, to improve their bottom lines. Newfoundland and Labrador slapped its entire $520 million total settlement on this year's budget, slashing its deficit by more than half. Quebec has also booked a large part — but not all — of the multi-year total this year. "You might not want to be cynical, but those two provinces will be facing elections in the next 12 months," Desjardins noted. He said the most transparent approach would be for provinces to apply each year's instalment to the budget in that year. New Brunswick announced its lawsuit in 2006 and passed legislation allowing it to file the case in 2008, describing it as a way to hold tobacco companies accountable for promoting a product they knew to be harmful. "No amount of settlement is going to undo the harms of years and years and years of tobacco use," Langille said. "But we're hoping that our government will make choices in preventative medicine and supporting those living with tobacco-induced disease right now." Desjardins said he understands the argument for using the money to fight smoking, but pointed out it is compensation for money already spent on caring for smokers — spending that contributed to budget deficits and provincial debt. "I don't think there's an obligation to earmark the money for specific programs," he said. "The money that was spent on health over the past several decades would have either stayed in the pockets of taxpayers or been spent elsewhere. So I think the provinces do have the moral grounds to put the money where they think the priorities are."
