Wood Smoke Stories

Made ill in Toronto

I live in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and worked as a school crossing guard for seven or more years. This job entailed exposure to quite a few houses with wood burning fireplaces or outdoor fire pits/brush burning. I have become extremely sensitized to it; I always was to some degree. My apartment building is flanked on one side by an inn which has a wood burning oven, and on the other side by three restaurants with wood burning ovens. I also have to go through wood burning smoke to get from the subway to my church, as a number of restaurants there have wood burning ovens.

I was wanting to return to Newfoundland where I was born and raised, but when I went there on a vacation I could not handle the wood burning smoke. What proactive steps can I take to address this issue with the provincial and federal governments of Canada? Is it possible to develop a class action suit against the government for refusing to regulate wood burning?

Denise