For the fourth year running, the Ontario government has failed to meet a requirement of the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) to consider environmental values in major policy decisions. This is in spite of a commitment made last year to the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario that the government would include environmental values in the business planning process.

This is the conclusion drawn by "Missing Values: An Environmental Review of the 1999-2000 Ministry Business Plans". The 65 page report was written as a report to the Conservation Council of Ontario by its president, Chris Winter.

Management Board Chair Chris Hodgson has indicated that the guidelines for ministry plans did require EBR ministries to develop a "high level strategy" for honoring their Statement of Environmental Values, and to refer to these strategies in their published business plans.

"Ten of thirteen ministries clearly failed to reflect environmental values in their published business plans", said Winter. "This in turn has lead to commitments by the ministries to actions that will have serious and long-term effects on the environment and the economic and social viability of the province".

In particular, the report highlights the lack of environmental considerations in the urban development strategies of the Ministries of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Transportation, and the Management Board of Cabinet. By promoting urban sprawl and highways, the government is increasing the loss of prime farmland and ecologically significant areas, and increasing smog and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

Further, the government’s commitment to reducing ministry budgets and downloading decision-making responsibility has diminished its ability to manage environmental problems. "You can trace the government’s inability to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine back to the core values which guide the Ministry Business Plans", said Winter, "and the health of the environment isn’t one of them".

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