Ontario to suffer environmental ruin, report warns: Commissioner criticizes everything from water cleanup to monitoring of logging
Copyright 2000 Southam Inc; The Ottawa Citizen
November 2, 2000
By April Lindgren
Ontario's environmental watchdog delivered a wide-ranging indictment of the province's environmental record yesterday in a report that criticizes everything from lapsed efforts to clean up the Great Lakes to inadequate monitoring of forest company logging activities.
"Ontario's people take it for granted that ... they can escape the cities ... and buy some corn on the cob and perhaps walk in the forest ecosystem," Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller told reporters as he released his annual report. "(But) we're losing that rural ecosystem and there are no mechanisms in place to prevent that."
The warning comes at a time when the Ontario government is frantically trying to clean up its environmental image in the aftermath of the Walkerton contaminated water tragedy. Seven people died and more than 2,000 became ill in May from E. coli after drinking municipal water polluted by manure-tainted runoff from a nearby farm.
In the aftermath of the Walkerton disaster, Mr. Miller in July delivered a special report that severely criticized the governing Progressive Conservatives for not monitoring groundwater supplies and allowing factory-farm operations that generate massive amounts of manure to locate unchecked.
Yesterday, the environmental commissioner said neither concern has been fully addressed.
"Is there a fully fleshed-out ground water strategy in place in the province of Ontario? No," he told reporters. "Is there some kind of legislation in place to protect the ecosystem against intensive agriculture? Not at this time."
Mr. Miller's 160-page report also painted a devastating picture of an ecosystem poorly protected from the ravages of urban sprawl, genetically modified organisms and forestry operations.
Nonetheless, Premier Mike Harris told reporters earlier in the day that he is "very proud of the fact that we consider the environment a top priority."
Speaking later to the legislature, he admitted that "while the facts of the matter are, our government has taken unprecedented steps to protect the environment, we do recognize that much work needs to be done."
Environment Minister Dan Newman, flanked at a press conference by photos of pristine Ontario lakes, welcomed the report and said the Tories will take Mr. Miller's concerns seriously. He then went on to list the government's post-Walkerton initiatives including tougher drinking water protection regulations, more money to improve sewage and water infrastructure and the first step toward a major ground-water monitoring network.
Opposition politicians, however, were disbelieving.
"This is the fifth year running that the environmental commissioner in our province laments the fact that your government has yet to produce a comprehensive groundwater strategy," Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty told the legislature.
"The report makes it perfectly clear that when it comes to protecting our natural environment, you and your government are missing in action."
The NDP's Marilyn Churley said the report was just the latest to point out that the environment ministry lacks the money and staff to do its job properly.
The report points critically to a variety of concerns including:
- The sale of environmentally sensitive, government-owned lands without a proper environmental assessment and public consultation. Mr. Miller said more than $ 200 million in public lands were sold last year, including some on the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine north of Toronto, but not a single environmental assessment was done.
Management Board Chairman Chris Hodgson said he ordered the Ontario Realty Corporation, which handles provincial land sales, to ensure it is following proper procedure back in May when he first became aware of the commissioner's concerns.
- Doubts about the environment ministry's ability to monitor forest companies' compliance with forestry rules "given reduced staffing and reliance on industry self-monitoring."
- Insufficient attention to the potential ecological impacts of the genetically modified organisms being introduced in agriculture. While both the provincial agriculture ministry and the energy, science and technology ministry are promoting the new organisms, neither "is qualified to critically review and consider the possible ecological impact," Mr. Miller warned in his report.
Mr. Miller suggested the government appoint an independent provincial advocate for ecosystem protection but Mr. Newman said the idea would have to be approved by cabinet.