There is no quick fix for Ontario's water woes.

  As our latest factsheet on a Clean Water Strategy for Ontario shows, Ontario needs to address all of the major threats to the quantity and quality of water in Ontario.  These threats include:

• overdevelopment
• pollution from industry, agriculture, municipal sewage, landfills, and mining operations
• inadequate infrastructure
• inadequate reporting requirements

  Thus far, the Ministry of the Environment has taken steps to address the reporting requirements by posting a notice on the Environmental Registry to the effect that a new regulation with respect to testing of drinking water is under development.

SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT
  The Toronto Environment Alliance and the Canadian Environmental Law Association held a press conference calling for a Safe Drinking Water Act.  NDP Environment Critic Marilyn Churley has taken it a step further by introducing a Safe Drinking Water Act as a private members bill. 

  While not addressing some of the root problems of overdevelopment and pollution, a Safe Drinking Water Act would enshrine many key requirements in legislation by:

• converting the current guidelines into enforceable standards
• requiring adequate funding for water infrastructure 
• requiring regular testing and reporting of the results

  The Conservation Council hopes to co-sponsor a public workshop in the Fall on a Clean Water Strategy for Ontario.

  Federal Environment Minister David Anderson has responded to the Conservation Council's call for a comprehensive review of the food biotechnology industry, covering the social, health, ethical, economic, and environmental aspects.

  Stating that he will continue to work with colleagues in Health Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to address the immediate and long-term implications of a "biobased" economy, the Minister referred our comments to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) Expert Panel, and to the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee.

  The CBAC's mandate does include ethical considerations, and its workplan does include a project on GM foods:  Project P1: The Regulation of Genetically-Modified Foods.  In its workplan, CBAC draws the link to the Expert Panel:

  "Given the proposed establishment of an Expert Scientific Panel focussed on the science base, CBAC will concentrate on the governance and organization of regulatory regimes and on the social, ethical, legal, economic and environmental aspects of food biotechnology". 

  Work begins immediately by the CBAC on two research topics:
  1) Examination of the governance and regulation of the food regulatory system.
  2) Examination of the social, ethical, legal, economic and environmental aspects of GM food  

  Following the release of the Expert Panel report in the Fall, CBAC will produce an overarching report to look at, among other things, the social, ethical, legal, economic and environmental issues, policy options, and the need for public debate.

  It appears this is the best route for a comprehensive review of food biotechnology, although many of the CCO's concerns about the Expert Panel process can be applied to CBAC -- for example, the lack of a balance in the membership and biases of the pre-selected committee members, and the emphasis on "knowledge-based deliberation".
 

See also:
	the CCO Publications page for copies of the Minister's letter and the CCO's comments on the Royal Society's Expert Panel.
	The Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee
	the Royal Society of Canada

Environmental Education

  Environmental education may have been dropped as a provincial priority, but it is certainly present at the federal level.

  Environment Canada has set up an on-line consultation process on how it can develop a national strategy on environmental education and sustainability.

  For information, and to register go to http://www.ec.gc.ca/education/
eeintro_e.htm

  Statistics Canada has just released Human Activity and the Environment 2000.  For $75 you get the book and a CD ROM with the latest environmental stats and regional breakdown.

For information  see http://www.statcan.ca:80/english
/IPS/Data/11-509-XPE.htm

  The air is clearer at the top.

  All three levels of government were present at the June 21 Toronto Smog Summit, and all three came with new commitments to reducing smog.

  Transportation Minister David Collenette announced that Via Rail will develop a commuter strategy for the GTA and other regions.  Environment Minister David Anderson announced that particulate matter under 10 microns (PM10) would be declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, with sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia to follow in the near future.

  For his part, Environment Minister Dan Newman promised:

• speeding up the Anti Smog Action Plan target to 2010 from 2015
• a regulation to require industries to report air emissions
• setting up an Anti-Smog Action Plan Executive Committee

Does it add up to clean air?  Well not quite, but it is a start.  As our Smog factsheet shows, we have to address energy consumption, urban sprawl, and public transit before we can hope to make significant inroads.

  The Estimates process is one of the little-known accountability measures within government.  This is when a parliamentary committee gets to grill ministers about the spending priorities of the government.

  This year, the Minister of the Environment, Dan Newman, was on the hot seat.  The full text of his speech is on the Ministry website. It includes a summary of ministry accomplishments in air quality, water quality, and waste management.

  If you've been following Question Period in the legislature , you'll know there's an ongoing debate over the cuts to the Ministry of the Environment and whether there were actually any cuts to the ministry's enforcement officers. 

  On June 13, NDP Leader quoted internal government documents that showed that "in 1995 there were 890 people in the enforcement and inspection branch, and by 1998 there were only 651." See Hansard for June 13, 2000.

No direct answer was given at the time, but at the Estimates Committee Hearing, Minister Newman had this to say:

"To summarize, in 1990-91, the ministry had 3,317 funded positions; now it has 1,501. Since 1990-91:

• 980 positions transferred to OCWA 
• 117 positions transferred to EST 
• 56 positions transferred to the Shared Services Bureau 
• 21 positions at the Niagara Escarpment Commission transferred to MNR 
• 802 positions reduced principally in managerial, administrative and technical areas  
• offset to some extent by a number of additions for priority programs, including, for example, a Drive Clean complement of 37 in 1998-99." 

"Contrary to any allegations of reductions in inspection and investigative functions , the reality was that compliance funding has only been reduced by 10 per cent but makes up 49 per cent of the ministry’s workforce compared to 40 per cent in 94-95 and no reductions were made to the investigative staff."

Clear?

The Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) has released a position paper on the Oak Ridges Moraine. 

  The OPPI believes that strong and immediate action is needed from the Ontario Government to protect this significant natural resource: 

  "Managed correctly, under clear policies, the Moraine represents an important opportunity to set a positive precedent for land use planning in environmentally sensitive areas." 

  OPPI suggest that a provincial policy should clearly define:

•  areas to be protected; 
• areas suitable for controlled, environmentally sensitive development or resource use; and 
• areas that can support managed growth.

Details are on the What's New section of the OPPI site.
   

2000-2001 Business Plans

  The latest series of Ministry Business Plans has just been released. The plans are posted on the Management Board site in PDF format.

  Several Ministries have responded to the CCO's Missing Values report by incorporating a reference to their Statement of Environment Values in the Business Plan. 

 The CCO is currently preparing a detailed review of the new plans.  Details next month!