On wood burning fireplaces.
Recent studies on wood smoke were conducted by UBC Professor Michael Brauer, School of Environmental Health and I did ask him whether there is sufficient evidence to initiate a ban of wood-burning fireplaces. His answer was: “this is not really an issue of science but one of how society views this risk...what we do know is that woodsmoke clearly leads to health impacts and that fireplaces are a, very, uncontrolled source of pollution.”

With this in mind, may I suggest to include wood burning fireplaces as well when asking City Hall to ban woodstoves through by-laws.
May I add to this; that this would be applicable to dated homes with existing fireplaces.
To the best of my knowledge new homes, since the late 1980ties, have been build with gas fuelled fireplaces and furnaces.
Now, whether this happened due to a new building code or the foresight of a futuristic design team, I have no knowledge of.

It is too bad that wood burning fireplaces were not part of the Greenest City Planning Team's idea. A neighbour 1 block over emailed me last night to say that they were been smoked out again. People like Pradeep K. Verma are a very good example of why our politicians need to get the word out about this very harmful yet preventible form of air pollution. Most people don't know this.

I would like to add to the list of health hazards that the Greenest City Planning Team left off.
Wood smoke from any residential wood burning appliance
is like cigarette smoke, both contain hundreds of dangerous air pollutants, gases and fine particulates that can cause lung cancer and other cancers and serious health problems such as: blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, lung disease like asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, and bronchitis; irritation of the lungs, throat, sinuses and eyes; headaches; allergenic reactions; increased hospital admissions and even premature death. The particles in wood smoke are too small to be filtered by the nose and upper respiratory system, so they wind up deep in the lungs and act as vectors for bacteria, toxins and virus. Wood smoke is more than a nuisance, wood smoke is chemically active in the body 40 times longer than cigarette smoke. It is a severe health hazard and a preventible burden to our health care system. These health effects have a human, social and financial impact, costing Canadians several billion dollars per year. This should concern all of us.

For Pradeep K. Verma MBBS!

Hello, hello - will you please wake up! Banning wood burning is not little fishes at all. Just like many pennies will build a healthy bank account, so will the elimination of all these toxic wood burning fireplaces and stoves contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment!
Matter of fact it could be achieved between now and Christmas – and that would be a Yuletide blessing which would reach far beyond the holidays and benefit every citizen in Vancouver and the surrounding areas. It could be the first step to going Green.

Please protect the only air we have to breathe! Burning is an option...breathing is not.

Property tax grant for deactivating / caping wood burning fireplace or wood burning stove chimneys. Some of my naigbours are using their fireplace as INCENERATORS for junkmail and thereby some very toxic chemicals are released from the burning inks used in printing and plastics used to cover cards etc.

Should also Ban charcoal BBQing.

Great idea.

There will always be wood and there will not always be gas. Far better we get rid of cars and industry than we worry about staying warm when the gas lines are broken.

For those who can't afford the gas bill, wood might be the only option. We should encourage smarter heating/cooling systems and build structures that can use passive solar, etc.

We need to start thinking at a global level folks. We would waste time and resources chasing after small fish. We have very tight time schedule to work around and have time and money only to go after the BIG deal items. These minor band aid cures are foolish distractions from the areas where focus must really be maintained. We need to stop denying that we are never going to win the battle of global warming so we better shift on plan B and allocate resources there. It means turning Sahara into a lush forest as outlined at the link UNFCCC decoded http://vsrbc.web.officelive.com/UNFCCC.aspx We need to conserve the time of the council and Mayor for items that would save the planet not just sore eyes of someone allergic to the woodstove!