Ontario Environmental Commissioner releases 2009/2010 Annual Report
The government ofOntario is failing to follow through on all of its environmental
promises, says the province’s Environmental Commissioner Gord
Miller.
“This government rightly prides itself on the progress it has
made in passing legislation to protect the environment,” says
Miller, “but actions on the ground often undermine it.”
In his 2009/2010 Annual Report released today, Miller points to a
number of cases where bureaucratic or political inaction has ended
up threatening the environment and undermining the government’s
stated environmental policies. The Environmental
Commissioner’s report found:
- The Ministry of the Environment has failed to keep an
up-to-date inventory of closed landfills that could be polluting
nearby groundwater. - Municipal wastewater discharges are worsening the pollution of
our Great Lakes because the Ministry of Environment’s discharge
rules fail to factor in the rapidly increasing population of
southern Ontario. - Ontario’s air quality standards are not airtight, allowing the
government to exempt whole sectors of industry from tougher
provincial rules. - One billion more trees need to be planted in southern Ontario -
far more than the government’s target of 50 million trees by 2020 -
to conserve biodiversity and respond to the challenges of climate
change. - Legislation has been introduced to protect half the boreal
forest in the Far North, but ineffective oversight by the Ministry
of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry has allowed mining
service companies to set up illegal camps and landing strips. - The government made a commitment to protect the dwindling
number of caribou in the province. But the Ministry of Natural
Resources has not protected their habitat from mining or forestry
to prevent their likely disappearance from Ontario.
The Environmental Commissioner also says Ontarians need to
develop a new approach to conservation, or face the significant
consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Miller says “current policies have already degraded the
environment in the long-term and significantly compromised the
ability of future generations to meet their needs. We must make do
with less, and use what we have more wisely. This is not a choice
for us but a reality imposed by the world we have created.”
The chapters cited above and the entire 2009/2010 Annual Report can
be found at title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng”>www.eco.on.ca/eng .
Click links below to access media releases on other topics
mentioned in the Environmental Commissioner’s 2009/2010 Annual
Report - Refining Conservation:
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/aging-landfills-ontario-s-forgotten-polluters.php”>
Aging Landfills: Ontario’s Forgotten Polluters
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/sewage-treatment-not-good-enough.php”>
Sewage Treatment - Not Good Enough
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/province-s-air-quality-standards-are-not-airtight.php”>
Province’s air quality standards are not airtight
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/wanted-one-billion-more-trees-for-southern-ontario.php”>
Wanted: One billion more trees for southern Ontario
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/lack-of-mining-oversight-jeopardizes-the-far-north.php”>
Lack of Mining Oversight Jeopardizes the Far North
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/government-s-plan-will-not-save-caribou.php”>
Government’s plan will not save caribou
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/loophole-big-enough-to-truck-160-000-tonnes-of-sand-through.php”>
Loophole big enough to truck 160,000 tonnes of sand
through
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/more-scrutiny-needed-for-large-natural-gas-plants.php”>
More scrutiny needed for large natural gas plants
target=”_blank”
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/province-allows-provincially-significant-wetlands-to-be-drained.php”>
Province allows provincially significant wetlands to be
title=”http://www.eco.on.ca/eng/index.php/pubs/eco-publications/2009-10-annual-report/province-allows-provincially-significant-wetlands-to-be-drained.php”>
drained
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