Toronto: the world’s new air quality champion, and not in a good way. Surpassing Kinshasa and New Delhi, this Canadian city has officially claimed the crown for the worst air quality on Earth, according to Monitor. And where are the hand-wringing headlines from CBC or The Globe and Mail? Crickets. These outlets should be leading the charge, but instead, they bury the story, deflecting attention from a crisis at home while they frolic in the eco-friendly narratives they love to preach.

Let’s not kid ourselves; they’re more than comfortable spinning tales about climate change globally while ignoring the toxic air residents are forced to breathe right under their noses. Meanwhile, CNN might be busy with their endless political theatrics, but where’s the hard-hitting coverage of real health threats? Customers in Toronto are inhaling air so polluted that it makes Kinshasa look like a clean room. But you wouldn’t guess that from the mainstream media’s cozy narratives focused on distant disasters instead of the immediate dangers to urban Canadians.

Rather than shining a light on this public health emergency, major outlets are too preoccupied with their political agendas, ensuring that the filters they apply to the news keep us all in a cozy bubble of complacency. It’s time to wake up. If the media won’t, it’s up to the citizens to demand better. Let’s hold them accountable for their negligence because breathable air shouldn’t just be a luxury in the developing world—it should be a basic right everywhere.