LETTER TO THE EDITOR            Sept. 6, 2002 
   On Aug. 21 of this year, a submission was given to the federal Auditor-General asking the  government to enact and enforce air quality rules in order to spare thousands of Canadians sickness and even death.
    The submission by Greenpeace and the Toronto Environmental Alliance argues that the nation's failure to employ such rules violates basic human rights. It contends that dirty air sickens and kills many of us each year, yet there is no concerted effort to control air pollution despite knowledge of the risks and the availability of effective technology.
  While we argue over implementation of the Kyoto Accord and whether industry has some special right to foul the air in pursuit of profits, Canadians are suffering and dying because of that pollution.
  It is pathetic and almost unbelievable that industry lobbying carries more weight than the very lives of the people. Whether Kyoto is ratified or not, the people must demand action on what amounts to a clear and present and deadly danger.
    Surely no one can honestly believe the scary nonsense being emitted by the likes of former Mulroney hack Perrin Beatty, who is crying on behalf of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters that commitment to Kyoto would cause the sky to fall and squash 450,000 jobs.
  If industrial leaders had used the five years since Kyoto emerged to make reasonable and honest assessment of its effects, they might have an argument. But instead they have done nothing but spew out nonsensical figures that couldn't possibly have any basis in fact.