Liberal MLA seeks to improve air quality in public buildings, reduce spread of airborne illnesses

Students, hospital patients, seniors in long-term care homesand other New Brunswickers deserve to be protected from thetransmission of airborne illnesses, such as COVID-19, saysGilles LePage, the Liberal MLA for Restigouche West.

He contends there's a "major risk" of spread ingovernmentbuildings, such as schools and hospitals.

That's why he's calling on the provincial government toensure improved air quality in them.

LePage, theopposition critic on the environment, says the COVID-19 pandemic hit the people who use these buildings "hard," and"brought home the reality" that if New Brunswick does not improve its air quality systems, itfaces increased risks.

"Predictions are that more [viruses] will come, and we just want to make sure that our users and our staff in our government buildings are taken care of and are safe," he said.

LePagerecently tabled a motionthat the legislative assembly urge the government to modernize the province's air quality laws and standards,"with a goal of bringing forward a strengthened Clean Air Act."

In addition, he wants the government to bring forward a plan to "monitor, report, and improve air quality systems" in government buildingsto mitigate the risks associated with the transfer of airborne illnesses andother harmful agents.

"Improving air quality and thus improving community and environmental health should be a priority of government," LePage told the legislature.

Tweet gets110Kviews

Ryan Murphy, a high school teacherin Saint John, posted a video on social media of LePage presenting the motion, and urged people to contact their MLAs, unions, friends,family, and neighbours. The tweethas been viewed more than 110,000 times.

"I understood that it was fairly important and thought it was worth a share.Apparently a few other people did too," said Murphy.

It's been shared by doctors, lawyers, parents who havehad to take sick days because of their children's illnesses, and workerswho are seeking protections from airborne illnesses, he said.

"It seems to show that there's widespread interest in this topic."

Murphy's interest increasedin January 2022, when New Brunswick was in a lockdown because of COVID-19 and he was about to become a father.

The idea of contracting the virus and bringing it home to his newborn was frightening,he said.

Although the school where Murphy teaches has aventilation system,and he always opens his classroom windows, weather permitting, he decided to make two air purifier systems, known as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, usingfilters and fans, to keep his classroom as virus-free as possible.

He also purchased a carbon dioxide monitor. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, commonly created indoors when people exhale, is usedas a proxyto measure overall air quality.

Murphy, 41, estimates he spent$400.

Five months ago, when he spent another nearly $200 to replacethe filters and saw how dirty they were, he was thankful he made the investments, both for his family and the roughly 100 students who are in his classroom every day, he said.

The pandemic has shown the importance of breathing clean air, and not just due to COVID-19, said Murphy, pointing to last fall, when the combined effects ofCOVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and the fluadded strain on hospital systems, andNew Brunswick students missed an average of 2.5 days in November.

"If hospitals are full and schools aren't, something needs to change," he said.

While there is a growing sentiment the pandemic is 'over,' Murphy contends the risks are greater now, as more layers of protections are decreased, such as the masking of health-care workers and patients in many hospital settings.

Should include other public buildings

Murphy describesLePage's motion as a positive step, but argues air quality improvements should extend to other public buildings, such as daycaresrestaurants, andmalls.

"Just like clean water, [clean air is]something that we should be able to count on wherever we are."

He acknowledges these improvements will cost money, but contends thatcould be offset byfewer sick employees and absent students, fewer businesses having difficultyfinding enough staff because of illnessanda decreased burden on hospitals.

Other jurisdictions have recognized the importance of clean air, he said, citing as an example Belgium, which has made carbon dioxide monitoring mandatory in public spaces, such as restaurants andgyms.

In Boston, the public school authority has created an online dashboard withreal-time air-quality datafrom thousands of classrooms.

And in Ontario,a private member's bill to protect people and the economy from airborne pandemics was recently introduced.

Debate date unclear

Asked how optimistic he is LePage's motion will pass, Murphy said clean air should be "apolitical" and supported by all parties, including his Progressive ConservativeMLA, Premier Blaine Higgs.

Even if the motion doespass, it would not be binding and would not obligate the government to take action.

It's unclear when the motion will be debated.The legislature resumes on May 9, but LePage will have to bring it back on an opposition day, which are Thursdays, andthe Liberal caucus must decidewhich of its outstanding motionsto bring forward first,said LePage.

"This one is definitely one of the top three," he said.