Air Pollution - Information Needs and the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour of Canadians - Final Report

8.0 Roles And Responsibilities

There are many actors involved in the fight against air pollution, and each could play many different roles and assume varied levels of responsibility. To better understand the mindset of Canadians in this area, we asked them who they felt should play the lead role in this fight. We also examined Canadians' preferences with respect to perceived effectiveness of combating air pollution between government regulation and enforcement on one hand and voluntary action by individuals and companies on the other.

8.1 Leading the Battle Against Air Pollution

The federal government and large companies are most frequently cited as groups that need to play the lead role in addressing air pollution problems.

In both the survey and in the focus groups, it is clear that Canadians tend to feel that addressing air pollution problems in this country should be primarily a federal government or industry responsibility. While there is a recognition that individuals are contributors to air pollution through personal vehicle emissions or through other actions (or inactions), focus group participants clearly laid responsibility for poor air quality on industrial production and lax government regulation and enforcement. These participants saw a clear link between the responsibility for this situation and the responsibility to effect a solution. As one participant stated:

"I think it's the government's responsibility for the citizen's health and safety; that is their responsibility no matter how you look at it."

Survey participants were presented with a list of five groups (large companies, environmental groups, the federal government, individuals and their provincial government) and asked which group needs to take the lead role to address air pollution problems. One third of Canadians (35%) say that the federal government should lead these efforts, while two in ten (22%) feel that large companies should take the lead role. Eleven percent say that individuals should be front and centre in fighting this problem. Fewer Canadians suggest that their provincial government (7%) or environmental groups (5%) should take the lead role. Two percent each say that the federal and provincial governments or that large companies and the federal government should be primarily responsible. One in ten (11%) feel that all of these groups should take the lead role. Five percent suggest that other combinations of these groups should be primarily responsible for addressing air pollution problems.

Q.17 Which one of the following groups will need to play the lead role to address air pollution problems? (n=1,213)

Residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan (48%), British Columbians (43%), university graduates (43%) and more affluent Canadians ($50K-$70K, 43%; $70K+, 41%) tend to prefer that the federal government take the lead role in addressing air pollution problems.

Men (40%) and anglophones (39%) are more likely than women (30%) and francophones (21%) to think that the federal government needs to play a lead role in this area. Women and francophones tend to be more likely than men and anglophones to suggest that a more collaborative approach (i.e., all of the groups we examined playing the lead role) is needed (14% vs. 8%, 16% vs. 10%, respectively). Furthermore, francophones (19%) are more likely than anglophones (8%) to believe that individuals need to lead the fight against air pollution.

Large companies are a more popular choice among Albertans (30%), those who disagree that individuals can take action that will effectively reduce air pollution (30%), Atlantic Canadians (27%) and those who reside in communities of less than 5,000 inhabitants (27%).

Leading the battle against air pollution

	Atlantic	Quebec	Ontario	Man/Sask.	Alberta	BC
The federal government	42	21	38	48	33	43
Large companies	27	20	21	25	30	19
Individuals	10	19	8	10	7	8
Your provincial government	6	4	7	2	14	8
Environmental groups	6	7	5	3	5	3
Federal and provincial government	1	4	2	2	-	1
Large companies and federal government	2	2	2	2	1	1
All of the above	3	16	12	5	8	11
Other/other combination	2	7	5	2	2	3
None	-	*	-	-	-	1
dk/na	*	-	*	1	-	2
*Less than one percent
Q.17 Which one of the following groups will need to play the lead role to address air pollution problems? (n=1,213)

While Canadians who do not have respiratory illnesses are more likely than those who have been diagnosed with a respiratory illness to suggest that large companies should have the lead role in fighting air pollution (23% vs. 17%), those with respiratory illnesses are more likely to feel that a collaborative approach (i.e., all of the groups we examined playing the lead role) should be pursued (16% vs. 10%).

It is not surprising to find that Canadians who strongly agree that individuals can take actions to effectively reduce air pollution are much more likely than those who disagree with this statement to feel that individuals should play the lead role in addressing air pollution problems (15% vs. 2%). Those aged 16 to 29 years also place greater importance on individuals leading this battle.

Albertans (14%) are the most likely to suggest that their provincial government should be playing the lead role in this area.

8.2 Voluntary vs. Regulatory Approach to Combatting Air Pollution

Canadians clearly perceive government regulations and enforcement as a more effective approach to combatting air pollution than voluntary action by individuals or companies.

It appears that Canadians put more faith in the government than in either individuals or companies to effectively tackle the air pollution problem. When asked to examine the relative effectiveness of government regulations and enforcement versus voluntary action by individuals, Canadians clearly perceive government regulations and enforcement as the more effective approach. Seven in ten Canadians (69%) feel that government regulation and enforcement is the most effective approach to combat air pollution, while one-quarter (25%) say that voluntary action by individuals is the most effective. The perceived effectiveness of government regulation and enforcement is even greater when it is compared to voluntary action by companies (77% vs. 17%).

Men are more likely than women to feel that government regulations and enforcement are more effective (74% vs. 65%). Women are relatively more likely than men to suggest that voluntary action by individuals is the most effective way to combat air pollution (28% vs. 22%).

While more affluent Canadians put more faith in the effectiveness of government regulations and enforcement, the least affluent tend to be more likely to say that individual action is the way to go.

Q.18 Some people say that governments are already too involved in the lives of Canadians and that voluntary action by individual citizens is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Other people say that individual citizens tend not to take any real effective action unless they have to, and as a result, government regulation and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Which view is closer to your own?
Subsample: Half of the respondents (n=598)

Not surprisingly, Canadians who disagree that individuals can take actions that will effectively reduce air pollution (79%) are the most likely to say that government regulations and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Other groups more likely to hold this view include university graduates, those who have been diagnosed with a respiratory illness, residents of Ontario and Alberta and those between 30 and 44 years of age. Furthermore, anglophones feel more positively about the effectiveness of government regulations and enforcement than do francophones.

Q.19 Some people say that governments are already too involved in the activities of industries and that voluntary action by companies is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Other people say that companies tend not to take any real effective action unless they have to, and as a result, government regulation and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Which view is closer to your own?
Subsample: Half of the respondents (n=615)

On the other hand, Canadians who reside in communities with between 5,000 and 100,000 people, those aged 16 to 29 years, and residents of British Columbia, as well as Manitoba and Saskatchewan, have relatively more faith in the effectiveness of voluntary action by individuals.

Many of the demographic differences we observed previously also appeared when we examined Canadians' perceptions of the effectiveness of government regulations and enforcement compared to voluntary actions by companies in combating air pollution. However, a few new differences also emerge.

Q.18 Some people say that governments are already too involved in the lives of Canadians and that voluntary action by individual citizens is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Other people say that individual citizens tend not to take any real effective action unless they have to, and as a result, government regulation and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Which view is closer to your own?
Subsample: Half of the respondents (n=598)

While anglophones are much more likely than francophones to say that government regulations and enforcement are more effective than voluntary action by companies in combatting air pollution (83% vs. 62%), francophones are relatively more positive about the effectiveness of voluntary action by companies than are anglophones (27% vs. 13%).

Q.19 Some people say that governments are already too involved in the activities of industries and that voluntary action by companies is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Other people say that companies tend not to take any real effective action unless they have to, and as a result, government regulation and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution.
Which view is closer to your own?
Subsample: Half of the respondents (n=615)

Overall, the better educated and the most affluent, residents of Ontario and British Columbia, and those who feel that the air pollution situation in their community has become worse are the most likely to say that government regulations and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Voluntary action by companies tends to be seen as more effective by Canadians aged 16 to 29 years, less educated Canadians, Quebecers, Atlantic Canadians and residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Q.19 Some people say that governments are already too involved in the activities of industries and that voluntary action by companies is the most effective way to combat air pollution. Other people say that companies tend not to take any real effective action unless they have to, and as a result, government regulation and enforcement is the most effective way to combat air pollution.
Which view is closer to your own?
Subsample: Half of the respondents (n=615)

Although voluntary action to reduce air pollution was preferred by the focus group participants, this was not seen as the most effective way to promote change and obtain results. Despite the coercive overtones, participants expressed a strong preference for a regulatory approach to this problem, especially if this approach were to be applied equally to individuals, industries and governments. A number of participants suggested that some sort of combination of voluntary and regulatory approaches would be preferable. Participants in all three locations felt that many good regulations were already in place, but that the enforcement of these regulations was lax or that industry made use of regulatory loopholes that made these regulations ineffective.

"Legislating manufacturers would have the most impact on improving air quality."

"Maybe you can start voluntarily, and if it's not working, go to a regulation system."

"It [voluntary action] is really not going to happen on the large scale, you know getting compliance on a large scale just isn't going to happen."

"Well, I'd go with a mix of them, but I'm just saying I think you have to have some regulatory."

Participants in both Vancouver and Toronto mentioned vehicle emission tests as one effective regulatory activity that, in their view, was producing positive results without causing the general public undue hardship.