Trouble in Smogville

Abstract

By the mid-1950s the rapidly growing Toronto was arguably North America’s third-worst smog-stricken city. Its downtown waterfront area, referred to by the local media as “Smogville,” was home to a range of pollution sources, many of which were exempt from regulation by the city. At issue politically was whether the authority to regulate polluting sources would stay with Metropolitan Toronto or be handed to the Ontario government and whether the former would be able to regulate the exempt sources (in particular, trains, ships, and various types of manufacturers). By the end of the decade, Metropolitan Toronto still governed the pollution sources within its borders, but with substantially expanded authority to do so. This article provides an account of the politics of the city’s early attempt at air pollution governance, focusing on the role played by Toronto’s real estate interests in lobbying for air pollution relief.