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Small and medium-sized businesses that use any of 25 identified chemicals in their processes will have to make that public on the Internet, under a "community right to know" bylaw approved overwhelmingly by Toronto Council Wednesday, Dec. 3.

Council voted 33-3 to approve the bylaw, and businesses have until Jan. 1, 2010 to comply. Under the bylaw, small and medium-sized businesses, from dry cleaners to manufacturers, will have to track their emissions of the 25 chemicals, and make that public.

Some industry representatives worried that the bylaw was duplicating regulations at other levels of government and would put undue burden on small businesses.

"The right to know thing is an important principle," said Paul Scrivener of the Toronto Industry Network, adding he suspected many businesses have no idea the regulation will even come into effect. "We have to engage the folks who are really being affected."

But councillors argued that consultation had been more than adequate, and that Toronto citizens had a right to know what was affecting them.

Ward 23 (Willowdale) Councillor John Filion, who chairs Toronto's board of health, said the bylaw is firmly in the tradition of other health-protecting bylaws like the city's pesticide ban and ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.

"To be opposed to this and to try to take this away a few years from now, it will be like trying to take away the smoking ban in bars," said Filion. "You'd have a huge outrage. This is something the public wants, the time is right, and I'm pleased to see this will be very widely supported by members of council."

Ward 20 (Trinity Spadina) Councillor Adam Vaughan spoke passionately on the issue, noting that his mother had been potentially exposed to toxic chemicals working in a laboratory during the Second World War.

"People have a right to know the risks they're engaged in," he said. "To deny this is to put people's lives and health at risk."